The Chosen Boy
by RememberTheCanon
Summary: Everyone knows Joey Potter is the Chosen One. And so the true hero with the lightning bolt is pushed aside. Harry Potter is neglected and forgotten, even with his unprecedented magical core. Until he meets Ginny Weasley... AU. Soul Bond (later in the story). Wrong BWL clichés. Dumbledore and James Bashing. HP/GW, RW/HG, SB/RL, NL/LL Grey!Powerful!Harry. T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1: Dumbledore's Mistake

One dark and frankly pretty chilly Halloween night, James and Lily Potter were at Shelly Cottage congratulating the animagus Sirius Black and the werewolf Remus Lupin on their engagement. Their twin boys, James 'Joey' and Harry Potter were being babysat by Peter Pettigrew.

Joey had straight red-gold hair and hazel eyes. He was a whiny, pudgy baby who seemed to feel a sense of entitlement by his stature as 'younger'. Harry was older, content with his luck, and had the Potter black hair and green eyes.

That particular night was about to change everything they knew.

A dark, hooded figure walked slowly up to the door. He shook free his hand of his somewhat-too-long sleeve and placed it an inch away from the door. He paused. Ominously, scarily, dramatically-

he knocked.

Peter Pettigrew rushed to the door. He opened it. There was Lord Voldemort outside.

He ushered his Lord and Master in.

"Pettigrew." There was nothing but contempt in the Dark Lord's voice. "Where are the devilish little brats? Upstairs, I presume..." His neck twisted as he produced his wand. "Ah, yes. Upstairs..."

"You presume right, M'Lord," Pettigrew said hurriedly. "Please, Master, right up the stairs and the second bedroom on the right, the one with the white door."

Lord Voldemort seemed to float up the stairs- whether from his, truthfully pretty dark, aura or his joyfulness- okay, not necessarily joy, but if the fearsome, Dark Lord Voldemort could ever be happy, this was it. As he walked, he casually cast spells to destroy things he found off-putting, such as the wallpaper or photographs that had really overdone themes. As well as _Sectumsepra _on the cat. The cat spasmed, bleeding in the hallway, and ran yowling into the bedroom of the two boys. It clanged shut behind her.

He twisted the knob. The babies were playing with their toys in their joint crib. They stopped as the Dark Lord cast the Dark Mark and kicked over their diaper table and their dresser. "Pettigrew." He barked, beckoning the cowardly servant. "Which of these two children is the elder?"

Pettigrew chuckled- then cowered as the Dark Lord shot him a glare. "Fool! Only I can pull off the evil chuckle!"

Peter backed away, hands in the air. "I apologize, my Lord. The elder is the green-eyed one, I believe."

Lord Voldemort crossed over and peered into the crib. Harry's green eyes met Voldemort's red, and the Dark Lord laughed raspily. "You shall have as short a life as possible, brat!"

He pointed the yew wand at Harry and smiled, stretching the thin, papery skin across his face and showed his rotting, disgusting black teeth. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry let out a whine of pain as the streak of green light hit his heart. Lord Voldemort laughed. Direct hit... but what was that?

The bolt of glowing green light settled into his skin. It seemed to pulse inside his skin there for a minute. Then Harry screamed.

The green light, glob like now, flew from his skin. It hovered in the air for a minute as Voldemort stared and the expression settled on his face- the expression of horror, of terror, of dread.

Of fear.

And then it burst apart, a shield of green light surrounding him. It whipped Joey across the face, creating a small cut across his jaw that immediately began to bleed. On Harry's forehead, a glowing lightning bolt scar began to burn itself into the little boy's forehead.

Lord Voldemort realized it. The prophecy was right. This boy was so powerful it scared him. It was a simple but effective defense spell that was taught in first year at Hogwarts, but to do that at the age of one, speechlessly, without a wand, his magical Core must've been a thousand times stronger than his. And at this level of power! To deflect a Killing Curse from the Lord Voldemort?

That was bad. Very bad.

And then the green light formed a spear that rocketed toward Voldemort. He dodged out of instinct, and it only just barely hit his arm- the boy was obviously controlling it, and his aim was off- but the pain was so great as to be unimaginable. He screamed in pain, in fear. He had only ever felt fear once in his life before this day, and that was a day he cared not to remember.

He Disapparated, clutching Pettigrew's arm.

Harry collapsed, exhausted from using up so much magic. He slept peacefully. Joey burst into tears. The man's face had scared him, and he'd never been hurt before. The bloody cut began to ache on his jaw, and the blood dripped into his mouth and onto his hand. He continued to cry. He wanted his Mummy and Daddy.

When James and Lily returned from the cottage, they found the house wrecked, the cat bloody and big-eyed, the door open, and they could hear a baby wailing from upstairs.

They raced upstairs, mentally cursing themselves the whole way. How could they have left them there? Evidently, hindsight was truly 20/20. It was obvious now. A plot by Peter Pettigrew. He was a traitor.

They wrenched open the door and stared at the horrific scene. It was not, necessarily, horrific to say, a Muggle- only Joey was bleeding, and only a little now- but the Dark Mark was floating in the room, the dresser and diaper table had been overturned, and the blood just sealed the overall effect. Immediately, Lily went to the fireplace and Flooed Dumbledore.

"Our sons are hurt. Lord Voldemort has been here. Please, please come to Godric's Hollow immediately." Lily begged the Headmaster. Albus leapt up and Flooed over.

James came racing over. "They're not dead. Why aren't they dead? Not that I want them to be dead. It's just Voldemort always kills his victims." He paced frantically. Albus laid a hand on the nervous father's shoulder.

"I believe that one of your sons is the Chosen One. The One who will defeat Voldemort. This is a great honor for you. Are they gravely injured, either of them? If one is, I do not think he is the Chosen One. The Chosen One would have only a cut or a bruise."

James shook his head. "Both of them are cut just once. Joey has a large cut on his cheek and Harry has the mark of a lightning bolt on his forehead."

Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows. "Hmm. I shall have to examine the two myself." He proceeded up the stairs and looked into the boys' room.

The black-haired boy was still sleeping off the effort of the spell, but his twin, who was no longer crying, was awake. The cut was no longer dripping blood, either. "Who is younger?" The Headmaster asked Lily, who had hurried up behing them.

"Our Joey is. The one with the reddish-gold hair," she said tearfully. "Oh, will they be alright?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Perfectly alright. The curse scars will not bleed. Here is what I have hypothesized. Joey is the Chosen One. First, he is younger but born on the same day, making him born _literally_ as the seventh month dies. Second, he is awake. Only the Chosen One would be this vigilant. Harry, though a good boy, does not have the instincts the Chosen One has, and has fallen asleep. Third, Joey's cut is noticeable, while Harry's could easily be concealed by his black hair. Surely the Chosen One's Mark would not be hidden! Fourth, Joey is directly under the Dark Mark, showing that the Dark Lord attempted to kill him first, but failed."

James scooped up the baby Joey. "C'mon, baby boy. Let's get you to Potter Manor where we can get you all good and safe; obviously our best efforts weren't good enough here." He bounced the baby and started walking to the Floo.

Lily scowled at his retreating back. "I'll have you know, James, that you were the one who chose Peter Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper!" She picked up Harry carelessly and stomped over to the Floo. Albus left shortly after, and silence fell in the wrecked house as the cat slowly bled to death, forgotten.

No one would ever find out what exactly happened that night- the memory was sealed, locked in the minds of Harry, Joey, Voldemort, and Pettigrew. Joey wanted that fame he was getting so he pushed the memory away. People were too busy with Joey to ever listen to Harry's side of the story. And Voldemort and Pettigrew- well, if they wanted to believe the wrong baby was the Chosen One, they could use that to their advantage.

No one ever realized the Boys-Who-Lived had gotten mixed up.

So as Harry was put down for that night, he sensed something had changed. Something not-so-good.

And he was right.


	2. Chapter 2: The Boy With The Green Eyes

**I definitely warped canon here *hehe***

**James lent the Weasleys a lot of money, and that will come into play... next chapter! *Grins***

**J.K. Rowling is a billionaire. She's like, awesome. She owns this *gestures to story* okay, except for the plotline. And Joey. Actually, I'd rather she have Joey because he's a selfish, egoistic, high-on-fame asshole. Anyways. I don't own the Harry Potter Franchise. That's J.K Rowling's. **

It's Ginny Weasley's eighth birthday. She is absolutely _ecstastic. _The Boy-Who-Lived- Joey Potter!- would attend her, Ginny Weasley's, birthday party. They're going to have other guests too, like Sirius and Remus and Tonks and such. But the Boy-Who-Lived is Ginny Weasley's main priority. She wants her Fairytale Ending.

She knows how it will all play out. The redheaded boy will walk into the room. His eyes will meet hers. He'll rush across the room and, with a confident flash of his white-toothed grin, will give her his present. "Ginevra," he'll whisper, "thank you for inviting me." He'll kiss her hand, and Ginny will probably faint because alas! The Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen One, Saviour of the Wizarding World, just KISSED HER HAND. Lips made contact with skin. Bloody hell.

Ahem! No time for being like a tomboy, she reminds herself. She must keep on fantasizing. Now where was she... ah yes. The moment that he sees her... it'll be true love. All the books say that Joey will sweep his girl off her feet. Why can't it be her? After all, she's one of the Weasleys, a wealthy pureblooded family.

Although maybe they'll be best friends first. That might be better. Even Ron hasn't gotten his first kiss yet- even on the hand. Maybe they can just be friends first. Yes. They'll instantly connect, just like that. They'll chat and maybe she can even have a go on his new Nimbus eight-thousand. And then- THEN in like five years or something- they can fall in love.

It, of course, doesn't go like that.

The minute they Floo over, she knows- but instead of strategically placed in a chair looking sweet and kind and best-friend-material in her green floral print dress, she's upstairs trying to make her bed properly (WHY didn't she do that before?) and she's not even in the dress (bloody. frigging. hell. She should have been dressed an HOUR ago.).

She knows because there is a surprised squeal from her mother. And some coughing from someone unused to Floo Travel. That cough is so sweet and delicate. It's probably Joey's. He would have an adorable little cough, if he was fragile and sweet and sensitive. Not like Charlie's, who always sounds like he's hacking up a lung from the dragon dust in Romania.

Ginny scrambles into the dress and puts on the soft white flats Mum gave her. She steps out into the hallway, locking the door- if Joey sees this, she'll never live it down. Then she runs downstairs, skidding a little and tripping over the last step, catching herself on the railing.

Then she stares.

She thought he'd be muscled and buff and handsome- the strong-and-silent type Mum's romantic Love Triangle novels talk about, or maybe thin and sweet and delicate like Da. In any case, she'd thought that he would be beautiful. Or whatever.

First thought: _Who is that ugly, fat whale? _

Then she realizes and her hand flies to her mouth. "Bloody-"

Mum gives her _that look _and Ginny shuts up. She does not want to incur the Wrath of Molly Weasley and Her Great And Legendary Scoldings for a couple of swears. (Or, for short, WOMWAHGALS, coined by, who else, Fred and George.)

"Um, hi. Nice to, er, meet you."

Joey clumsily winks at her. Was that supposed to be coy or what?

"M'Lady Ginvra." He waddles over and winks right in her face. Okay, did Voldie's curse addle the Boy Who Lived's brains? That would definitely explain a lot. Like the winking.

"Um, it's Ginny. And if you insist upon saying Ginevra, it's GIN-EVRA. Not Gin-vra."

Joey smiles and slings his arm around her shoulders. She shrugs it off. "I'm um. I'm fine. I just met you, you uh, shouldn't like, put your arm around my shoulder's it's... improper according to Wizarding Customs..." She can't believe she actually wanted this five minutes ago.

The BWL (is he always like this, she wonders) just laughs. God, who invented that laugh? It sounds like a donkey braying. "Aye, My Lady Gin-Gin."

She gapes. Gin-Gin? No. He didn't.

Ginny clenches her fists. Grits her teeth. "Please, _Chosen One, _call me _Ginny. _Not _Ginvra. _Not _Gin-Gin. _Not even _Ginevra. _JUST GINNY." _  
_

He winks again at her, clumsily, and waddles back to his parents. Blimey, they must have done something really wrong with parenting him, if he turned out like... this.

The adults disperse and Joey notices the food. She sighs, all her hopes disintergrating, turning away, and then-

And then she notices him.

He's thin- really, scrawny. And tall, too. He has a shock of black hair and big green eyes surrounded by pale gold glasses that were Spellotaped together. His eyes were kind. Broken, but sympathetic and kind.

Something was wrong.

"Who are you?" She asks politely. He stiffens. Ginny bites her lip. "Oh, Merlin! Am I supposed to know you? I'm truly sorry... I just wanted to know. Really, I _am _sorry!" She blathers on, her Weasley blush reddening as she goes on.

He places a finger to his lips. She falls silent and the noticeable scarlet blush begins to spread to her ears. "Quiet. Calm down, Miss Weasley," he smiles. "It's alright. It's just..." he looked down at his shoes and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.

"I get that alot." Ginny's brow furrows.

"You should not! No one should! It isn't right. You should be known as who you are, not just as- oh." She looks down at her flats. "It's because you're _his _brother."

His sad smile becomes sadder and he clears his throat. "I don't usually get apologies, though," He offers. "It makes you different. In the best way."

Ginny laughs and grabs his hand, running up the stairs. "I never cease to please, Mr. Potter." She looks over at him again. "I'm assuming you're a Potter a) you came with them and b) because you still haven't told me your name." She nudges his shoulder. "Hint hint."

He laughs. A clear, high sound, like bells ringing in the church a few miles from the Burrow, in Ottery St. Catchpole. "I'm Harry Remus Potter. The boy you just saw is my twin, Joey- named after my dad. His full name is James, but eveyone calls him Joey because.. well, actually, I don't know. James 'Joey' Frank Potter." Harry grins. "I guess you already knew that by the way your face dropped when you saw that he is actually a giant, ugly, disgusting old coot."

Ginny gasps indignantly. "My face did not drop."

"Did too!" Harry laughs at her huff, but then his face becomes serious. "Can we, like... talk? In your room?"

Ginny nods. "Of course, why?"

He grabs her bicep- gently, because _Harry, _at least, is a _gentleman, _and why is she thinking that she just met him. That type of thinking is what got her into Joey, and that is not a good thing. (But Harry's acting gentlemanly, she's seen it firsthand...)

They reach her room, and Harry murmurs a word and flicks his wrist- _Alherma, _she thinks- and her door pops open.

But- she locked it. And- oh. Bloody hell.

"You just did magic!" She hisses. "That's- that's against the law. You haven't even gone to Hogwarts yet, you shouldn't know this stuff even! And don't tell me that was accidental. Because I SAW you with your wrist. And I heard you say an incantation."

Harry smirks. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Ginny."

He clears his throat. "In there." He points.

She huffs. Harry's been nothing but kind. He's funny and he looks like the boy on the cover of a Muggle fairytale book Mum bought her. He's been nothing but a gentleman to her, and that's what stops her from telling her mother or his father or vice versa about it.

Harry closes the curtains. He checks outside her door, twice, and locks it. Then he looks out the windows, twice each, locks them, tests them, and closes the curtains. Ginny just curls up on the couch, propping her cheek up in one hand.

"Okay, Ginny," He starts. "Have you heard of wandless magic?"

She checks her memory. Da and Mum mentioned that Dumbledore could do it. That's it.

"Dumbledore can do it, I know that," she says slowly. "But I don't know anything else."

Harry nods. "Yeah. Wandless magic is exactly what it sounds like. No wand- or any other sort of conductor, like a staff. Just your hand. When you've got nothing to do, not Quidditch or anything, your father and your mum forget it's your birthday too, you can fly only at night because your brother would beat you up and then you'd get a fierce scolding about how _Joey _is going to go through all this pain and suffering and hurt and you're his brother, you'll be fine, Voldemort won't even notice you because you're not the great Joey Potter, Chosen One, and knowing that the one person you want not to notice you will anyways-"

He inhaled sharply. "You tend to turn to magic. To books. To things that give you comfort. And I... I started working on it. I do simple spells, but I can do them wandlessly. With my own play wand, and practice, I got good. Really good. And then I just channeled the magic through my fingers. I was trained by our babysitter and nanny, Anya, for a few months. She got fired last week because she spent too much time with me. But she said, before she left... she said that you should join me. Anya's a Seer, and she's met you, and she knew I would meet you, so she thought that the best option- because you always find out, in the realities she can see, and in one of her visions you tell and I get locked up in Azkaban and Voldemort takes over- so she thought it would be better if we trained together. If we were a team."

Ginny puts her hand to her mouth. It's a good idea. Harry is really smart. She thinks of being the best- being better than Ron and Charlie and the twins and Percy and Bill's little sweet, innocent sister. Of being better than that. And it would be harmless. A few more OWLs and NEWTs, a better job. And no one will ever know.

Yet she can sense, if she says yes, something will change. Maybe good. Maybe bad. But some balance will be tipped, and she's not sure which way it will go.

But Ginny Weasley knows she wants it to tip.

"Okay," she says. "I'll practice with you."

And even if it is a bad decision, Harry's grin makes it more than worth it to her. He takes out a spellbook and a neutral training wand meant to be used to test spells. "Okay. So we're going to start with the levitating Charm, Wingardium Leviosa. The wand movement is a swish and flick. There you go, swish and flick!"

And so it began. They had no idea what effect this would make on the world, on their lives and countless others.

It would last for five sweet, blissful months of playdates and training. And then it would open up something they never thought they'd find.

The scales were tipped. Now it was just a matter of determining which side was evil. And which wasn't.


	3. Chapter 3: The Betrothal

**So remember what I said last chapter? About James lending the Weasleys money? Hehe, I am so evil... AKA James uses a Slytherin tactic. Blackmail. And this chapter is called the Betrothal for a reason. **

**BTW, a side note that may/may not come into play- there is NO WAY that Joey could EVER have been The Chosen One/Boy Who Lived or however you want to put it, even if he had Harry's IMMENSE magical core. Harry's older- he was born a second before the first stroke of midnight. Joey was born a full minute later, but a nurse marked it wrong, saying Joey was born on July 31st at the literal last stroke of midnight. It's why Dumbledore said that because Joey was younger he was the BWL. Also, Harry has to be older to access his vaults. JOEY IS NOT GETTING THE FAMILY FORTUNE IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT AND IN FACT AS THE AUTHOR I HAVE EVERYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT. Although that could be a potential subplot, fighting over the vaults. Hmm. I'll have to think about that.**

**I don't own Harry Potter. I just own my imagination, and I think that's hiding under the bed somewhere...**

As Joey started stuffing his face with cake, burgers, ice cream, and chips, and began to tease Ron about his fear of spiders, Molly placed the platter of snacks and hors d'oeuvres on the table out on the patio near their mini-Quidditch-arena and sat down next to James and Arthur, who was sipping his coffee. She started on the crisps.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" asked James. "I only wish it could be like this on Joey's birthday. It was rainy the last two birthdays. He was so disappointed because I had bought him his Nimbus eight thousand five hundred, the top of the line broomstick, and he didn't get to play on it..." James sighed and grabbed a handful of deviled eggs. "Delicious. Molly, your cooking is as good as ever." Molly blushed and waved him away.

"Don't you mean _Harry_ and Joey's birthday, James? Or do you celebrate them on different days?" Arthur asked. James nodded.

"Of course. We give all our energy to _one _boy on their birthday. And then the next day the other one gets the attention, and everyone feels equal. They get more attention for more time, and they like it!"

Molly smiled. "A good system, that. Although that might be a bit too much cake. Two cakes in as many days? Well, I shouldn't judge, look at me. And Harry needs to get some food into him, he's so scrawny. And some exercise wouldn't be amiss. Speaking of exercise Hey, does Joey want to go flying with Fred and George and Bill and Charlie? Play some Quidditch? Maybe Harry'll join as well..."

James laughed. "Harry doesn't know how to fly. I doubt he could play Quidditch."

Arthur frowned. "Why not? I mean, James, I would think you would have taught him! I mean the great James Potter, famous for his Chaser skills at Hogwarts! And Harry's fairly short and thin for his age. I think he'd make a kickarse Seeker or a pretty good Chaser, depending on how fast he is with a broom."

James shook his head. "No. Er... you see, Harry's a bit jealous of all the attention Joey gets as the Chosen One. And so he sometimes makes fun of Joey, of course. That's what boys do. But his mum and I have decided that until he stops he won't get to learn to fly. And slowly, he's stopping. So perhaps soon, he could fly. But only if he continues to shape up and be a good boy."

Molly grinned. "That's a great idea, James!"

"It was Lily's," he said modestly. It wasn't. It had been on the spot, incredibly quick. The excuse was foolproof, with only one problem- As soon as they got home he would have to remember to teach Harry to fly. Otherwise, other questions might be raised. He just wanted to raise Joey properly, and if they were investigating him Joey's childhood would be ruined. If Joey's childhood was ruined, he would be a failure as a father. James Potter never failed at anything. Including parenting. Especially parenting.

He switched on his business face. Here it goes...

"Could we please talk inside? Privately?"

Molly and Arthur looked confused but agreed.

It was all going perfectly.

* * *

"You see, I think a betrothal would be beneficial for both our families. For example, our vaults would be linked-"

"A _betrothal?_"

Molly stood up, red in the face. Furious. "I can't believe this! To whom? From Joey to Ginny?"

James nodded. "Precisely."

"They're eight! They're not even allowed to get married yet! The age of consent is seventeen, and I _refuse _to let Ginny get married to a boy, however famous, however rich, however beneficial it may be, that she just met!"

James placed a hand on Molly's shoulder. "Molly, calm. I can explain why I have suggested this. For one thing, Ginny and Joey would be betrothed at seventeen and marry at eighteen. That gives Ginny plenty of time to fall in love. That's nine, ten years. They'll be of the age of consent. They will most definitely _not_ be eight. And that gives them ten years to fall in love. Ten. YEARS. They hit it off today. If that's what they're like as friends, I think that their love might be the greatest, most epic romance of their era. Think about it! Molly, linked vaults. You would be part of the Noble House of Potter. And the father and mother-in-law of the BWL!"

Molly shook her head. "And if they don't fall in love? What happens then? I don't want my baby girl to be stuck in a marriage she can't get out of with a man she doesn't love. I couldn't bear it. I simply couldn't. I'm sorry, James, but I refuse to let this happen."

"Fine." James spread his hands. "Fine by me... except that means that you have to give me back all the money I lent you. See all these things around you? Your lavish lifestyle? I don't think you could support this richness without my... funds."

Mrs. Weasley gaped. "No."

"Then let Joey and Ginny get betrothed. Look, this has to happen somehow, Molly. I want our children to be happy. I don't think they can do this without each other. I think Ginny can help protect Joey from the Dark Lord. I think there's even a Soul Bond involved. Dumbledore also wishes this to happen. Are you telling me you doubt Dumbledore? The great wizard?"

Arthur stopped Molly. "I think... I think we have to. We don't have that many Galleons, we can't pay you back, and we can't just uproot the kids. But James, what you've done... I don't think either of us can call you our friend anymore."

James nodded, eyes sad. "I understand."

Molly rose. "I think we'll have to cut this birthday party short. Take Joey and Harry and Lily and leave. And I don't think you should come back."

"Of course."

A few minutes later, they were gone, Harry being tugged gently along by Lily as James attempted to carry Joey. Harry was crying. Apparently his mum had informed him about them never coming back. He hugged Ginny goodbye. "I'm gonna miss you, Gin," he whispered. "I'll try to Floo over soon. Get yourself a training wand and practice- swish and flick, remember, swish and flick!"

* * *

Ginny's face paled, taking on a sickly green hue. How could he do this? How could they be forced into this? How could this happen? It was impossible.

Yet it was true...

She ran to the bathroom and retched. She threw up the burgers and the chips and the crisps and the cake. She felt terrible. And after she was done, she threw herself on her bed and cried into her pillow.

She was betrothed to a whale. A whale with a face and an ego the size of China.

How could James threaten her parents like that? Then again, he'd neglected Harry. Whoever had the power to ignore or hurt Harry was a bastard. A true, evil bastard. James was such a _bastard. _

She knew Lily couldn't have had anything to do with it. Harry had told her his mother paid far more attention to him compared to his father. If he got presents, be they Christmas, Easter, or birthday, they were from Lily.

And now... she was going to marry Joey Potter.

How she would have longed for this only a few hours earlier!

Funny how everything had changed with a birthday party, a neutral wand, meeting Joey Potter...

And a boy with green eyes.

Ginny smiled through her tears. A lot could happen in ten years. Maybe Voldemort would off Joey as Joey killed the Dark Lord. Yes. That would turn out nicely. She could dance on his grave and deface it and spit on it. Though knowing the Ministry, she'd get arrested for that. Or James would find someone else to betroth Joey to, someone 'worthier'. Like anyone deserved that fat prat.

Harry gave her hope. If he could survive being neglected for an narcisstic, mean, arrogant asshole, never learning to fly, studying hour after hour after hour so he would be better than Joey in something for once, if he could manage it, then she could manage it.

She would stay strong. And hopefully, Joey would be offed soon. In the meantime, however, she would train. She would try to be as good as Harry. Or at least at his level.

Ginny grinned and walked downstairs.

"Mum, Da? Could I possibly have a play wand?"...

**And that's a wrap! **

**So, I'm already working on Chapter Four. I hope it'll be up by... *checks date* Wednesday, maybe? I might get really busy so I'll say Thursday so you're prepared for a short wait. I tend to blow off homework and it's catching up to me *winces***

**Love, Lea. Cheerio! **


	4. Chapter 4: Letters, Not From Hogwarts

**Hello, I'm back! This is gonna be a pretty long chapter, I warn you! **

**Also, 56 followers last time I checked. _5-freaking-6_****_. _****You guys are awesome, you know that, right? **

**And 26 faves. I JUST- YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME, OKAY?**

**And I know that this is a kind of filler chapter. **

**So, I don't own Harry Potter. Joanne Kathleen Rowling does. **

* * *

TIME SKIP: THREE MONTHS, TWO WEEKS BEFORE HARRY'S NINTH BIRTHDAY.

The owl tapped on Ginny's window. She whirled around in excitement and immediately opened up the window. The owl was a creamy white spotted with black. A Potter owl then, they seemed to have a strange affinity for white and black owls. So it was either Joey 'inquiring' about their betrothal (something she'd rather forget) or Harry with some type of news.

She carefully unstuck the Potter seal and smiled. There was that thick, loopy handwriting she knew so well.

_**Dear Gin, **_

_**I can't believe this! I doubt you will either. **_

_**So, a few days ago I was studying the Aguamenti spell, and this owl taps on my window. I thought, honestly, it was you sending something, except it wasn't your owl. It wasn't you, though! I was right! It was an owl from a special boarding school! A magical school! I'm not allowed to even know where it is!**_

_**They said I had won a two year scholarship. I was really excited, but then I remembered you. So I sent back a letter saying I couldn't go without you. Don't look at me like that! I couldn't. You're my best friend, Gin, and you know that. **_

_**I got a reply a day later, and they said YOU'D ALSO BEEN ACCEPTED! I was so excited, I screamed, and Mum just ran in, all like 'What in Merlin...?' And then I just cracked up crying. In joy. She thought I was hurt or scared and started being all like 'my poor baby'. **_

_**I didn't tell her about the Extraordinary Society of Magical People (that's the name of the school. I'm gonna refer to it as ESMP). I just told her that I'd had a bad dream about losing her, and then I was BWL, and Joey was evil. She looked at me kinda strangely, then she told me to go for a lap around the mini-arena and have some chocolate. . (By the way I forgot to tell you. I got a broomstick! A Cleansweep 7! Mum gave it to me. We're gonna have to go racing soon, Ginny, cuz I'm gonna beat you!) **_

_**I don't want to leave Mum. Joey and James I'm perfectly okay with leaving, because they're assholes, but Mum's nice. She treats me like I'm just as important as Joey. Well, somewhat equally. She favors Joey, but she tries to include me, and that's more than Dad has ever done for me. I don't think I can leave her, Ginny! **_

_**And then there's your family. They love you and you love them. How could you leave them? Your mum, your da, Fred and George, Bill, Charlie, Ron, dammit even PERCY they all love you!**_

_**It's just, it's a great opportunity. They have classes on Animagi and Magical Theory and Magical Languages and other stuff. Downside- they don't let you use your wand if you're under 11. And it's a 2-year scholarship. Oh well! **_

_**I just don't know what to do. Please fire-call me at 10:30 using your fireplace. **_

**_Love,  
Harry Potter, Twin of The Boy Who Lived To Be An Asshole_**

Ginny squealed as she started reading it, then her face became grim. She checked her watch. It was 10:15. She had a good fifteen minutes until she would fire-call Harry.

An owl tapped on the window. This one was a pale brown carrying a fancy envelope and a blue package wrapped with silver string. Ginny opened the window again and took the letter, then sent him back.

She carefully opened the letter. As her eyes flickered across the page, she gasped.

_Dear Miss Ginevra Weasley._

_It is our pleasant duty to inform you that you have been awarded a two-year scholarship to the Société Extraordinaire de Personnes Magiques*. Please find enclosed a list of classes. Please have your classes picked and ready by July 31st. _

_Your first Term starts at July 31st. We await your owl two days before that._

_Enclosed is also a book containing the information you will need to a) travel to our Société, b) understand the rules, customs, and hierarchy of our Société, and c) a history of our Société._

_Yours,_

_Headmistress Kirnella Gray. _

Ginny unwrapped the book and began to read, noting things down in her little book. At 10:30 she stopped and promptly fire-called Harry.

She took a deep breath and stuck her head in the flames.

* * *

"Hey, Harry," Ginny smiled. "Nice to see you again. I'm sorry you got caught last time."

Harry winced. The last time he'd Flooed over to 'just talk face-to-face' had not gone so well. He'd been caught by Mrs. Weasley, who yelled for a good five minutes and then tossed him out. Well, Side-Along Apparated him out. Then he'd gotten yelled at by James, who had sentenced him to staying in his room for a week and double chores.

They'd forgotten he had a fireplace in his room. He'd owled Ginny many times and Flooed over into her room. They'd spent a pretty Sickle on Floo Powder, until Ginny found a reference to fire-calling in one of her books. They learned it so well that unless Ginny had some difficulty with a spell, they always fire-called. No one checked for fire-calling in the Potter Manor, or in the Weasley Manor.

"My neck still aches from how she picked me up," he groaned, then straightened. "Okay, not beating around the bush. What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should go." Ginny stated. "It's a pretty simple decision, Harry!" She snapped as he raised an eyebrow. "Did you even read the book?"

Harry blushed. "Ummm... yes?"

Ginny sighed. "It says you can go home every month for two days, and there's a Christmas and Easter break." She shrugged. "Better than nothing. And have you seen the classes they're offering?"

Harry shook his head. Ginny sighed and picked up her fat blue book. "Ahem. Animagus classes, Magical Theory, the Power Scale, Occlumency classes, Legilimency classes, Mind Magic, Time Magic, Channeling Martial Arts Magic-" she snapped it shut. "You see what I mean? We have to do this! We have to!"

Harry laughed and put his hands in the air. "I surrender, milady! I surrender!"

Ginny shook her finger at him. "Good boy!"

Harry pouted. "Do you..." He cleared his throat. "Do you really think we should do it? Because I want to, but I won't do this without you. As I said before, Ginny, you are my best friend. And you always will be. Nobody else."

Ginny grinned so wide she looked like a clown doll. "You're my best friend too, Harry. And that's why you are going. Because you ARE my best friend, and I don't think I'd last there for five seconds if you weren't there with me."

Harry smiled. "I would hug you, but I don't want to go up in flames. Can I Floo over tomorrow? It's like, really late-" he was interrupted by Ginny's yawn. "Okay, go to bed then," he laughed, and she nodded.

"Bye Harry! See you tomorrow!"

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up, ate cereal (the only brand that didn't have Joey's face plastered all over it), and read that book that Ginny had mentioned, the one with all the classes. After a few pages, he found himself engrossed in its descriptions and had finished the book by lunchtime. He kept notes in his Book, a fat, floppy black book with all his notes on everything. So far it had 247 entries, had used up 494 pages out of its 1000, and had the word's _Harry's Book and Notes _written on it with silver gel pen.

He grabbed a box of salted crackers for lunch and owled Headmistress Gray back, assuring her he would be immensely pleased to attend their school and inquiring after how many students it took in per year.

He got an owl back at one o'clock that stated around 150 per year went without a scholarship, a good 100 per year had a 1 year scholarship, and 50 got a 2 year scholarship. So, all in all, around 300 students per year. They took in ages 8-11, so 900 students in all. The Extraordinary Society apparently had very high standards.

He Flooed over at two o'clock, slumping against the side of her bed so that his head was level with Ginny's, who was seated on the bed, knees dangling. Ginny didn't beat around the bush. No, rather, she plunged to the middle of the thorny mess.

"How are we going to get you to go?" She asked.

Harry bit his lip. "I don't know... on one hand, I think Mum'll let me go. James, though... and Joey... I don't know. I doubt it. Joey's taking classes at Hogwarts and James is a bastard."

Ginny crossed her legs underneath her. "Da and Mum let me go. They say so long as I go to Hogwarts too, I can go to the Society, and so long as I come home as soon as I'm able to. No skipping visits."

Harry snorted. "Seriously? Wow, you got off easily."

Ginny shrugged. "What can I say? I have a gift with persuading my Mum and Da to be lenient with me. And to get what I want." She smiled happily and winked at the black-haired boy.

He huffed. "But what should I do?"

Ginny leaned forward and propped her head with her hands. "I think you should tell Lily. And then leave. Don't let James stop you. Don't let Joey stop you. You can do it yourself. And when you come back, tell him who you are."

Harry cocked his head. Ginny facepalmed. "Tell him you _are _a nine-year-old boy whose birthday presents have been stolen by a boy who got too many to begin with. Tell him you're Harry Potter and you deserve just as much as Joey Potter. Tell him you are a person who needs love, a hug, a kiss, because you're only human, after all. You are Harry Remus Potter, and tell him, dammit, that means something just as much as Joey Frank Potter does."

Harry blinked, then said slowly, "Wow, Gin, you really can make some pretty nice monologues when you're up to it."

Ginny groaned and slapped him on the arm. "Is that all you got out of that? Seriously, Harry, you are such a prat. But did you get it?"

"Yeah. Tell Mum, leave, and if he notices I'm gone, make a huge, over dramatic speech about how I'm just as good as Joey? That seems like a pretty good plan - OW! Gin, that bloody hurt! Why did you hit me?" He whined, rubbing the back of his head.

Ginny huffed. "Well, that's the point, prat. Now, apparently to get to the Society we have to go to Gringotts, where a teacher will help us with a blood test and getting our supplies, then we Apparate to a secret place somewhere, where the Society is located."

Harry lay down. "Wow. They really are a pretty secretive Society."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "How do you know it's secretive?"

"Well, Headmistress Gray sent me a letter explaining how many students were accepted each year. Apparently, 150 are without a scholarship, 100 are with a one-year scholarship, and 50 have a two-year scholarship, like you and me."

She nodded. "Okay... why else?"

"That makes three hundred per year. Times 3, that's 900. And so all in all, that's a good hundred less than Hogwarts' 1000 per year. Also, we're not allowed to know where it is until we register. And I don't think you're allowed to tell where it is once you do- I found a few references to expelled students who told where the school was. All in all, that's pretty secretive. I think they're pretty high-security."

Ginny laughed. "You're smarter than five minutes ago, if you're making that much sense."

Harry rolled his eyes. "So in thirteen days we'll go to the Society?"

Ginny smiled and shooed him out the Floo. Then she reopened her book- _A History Of Wands _by Barrick Ollivander, the current Ollivander's grandfather- and started reading._  
_

Or tried to. She couldn't ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

In thirteen days, she would be going to the Extraordinary Society of Magical People.

And that made her feel on top of the world.

**... and that's a wrap! **

***Extraordinary Society of Magical People, in French. Clue to location!**

**So, yeah, I know it's filler, but you got it early and it sets up the plot for the Society, which is an influential part of Hinny. I realize that they'll be ten and eleven when they're through, but it still is important. **

**They won't become like, ultimate BAMFs yet, but they will have honed their Occlumency skills and their Legilimency skills, enough to hold off an attack for a few minutes. **

**Also, they aren't the only canon characters at the Society. I plan to put at least two other canon characters in there. And yes, I have already decided who they are. **

**So, ah... Cheerio! Love, Lea. **


	5. Chapter 5: Inheritance

**AND HERE IT IS, THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET! I had to chop it in half because it was so long, but this one they basically get Blood Tests, supplies, and meet a teacher- Rose Cooper. Oh, and the next chapter is called Lily's Tears for a reason. **

_Blood Test_

**I don't own. **

Ginny Weasley nervously waited outside of Gringotts, her trunk (enchanted with a Feather-Light charm and a Bottomless charm) on the marble steps next to her. On her other side was Harry Potter, who was compulsively checking his watch every five seconds. His Feather-Light Bottomless trunk had been shrunk and stuck in his pocket.

They were waiting for Professor Rose Cooper to pick them up. They had receieved word the day before that it was going to be her, and now she was thirty minutes late. Harry sighed. He wouldn't doubt this was a prank to get their hopes up. Joey was probably laughing his head off right now.

Ginny stood up. "Maybe she's in Gringotts," she said to Harry, who eagerly got up. If he got to move around at last, he was happy. They walked into the pristine marble hall, Ginny scanning for a blonde witch and Harry checking the surroundings.

"You're late."

The voice was female, clipped, and stern and from behind them. Both of the children whirled, a spell already at Harry's lips. Ginny had clenched a fist, prepped to swing a right hook, and her knee was raising to meet a crotch and incapacitate an male enemy.

"Admirable instincts, but I am to be your protector, not your adversary." The young blonde witch- how old was she? Twenty?- took each of their arms by the biceps. They relaxed instantly. Something hummed in the Professor's fingertips- magic, reassuring and washing over them like a wave. As they basked in the glow of it, Rose Cooper gently steered them to the Head Goblin.

"I am Rose Cooper, these two are Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley," she indicated them with a gesture of her head. "As Deputy Headmistress of the -" here she lowered her voice, "- the _Society, _we will be needing two blood tests today, one for each of them."

The goblin nodded. "Good, miss. Please follow me to my office."

The group was ushered to a well-furnished circular room. The goblin procured a silver needle and a piece of ripped black parchment. He slid the instruments across the table and motioned to Ginny. The redheaded Weasley gulped audibly and picked up the needle.

"To make a blood test, prick your right index finger with the needle and let seven drops of blood fall on to the parchment. Then I will process the information gleaned from your blood with a secret goblin procedure." The goblin explained. "Go on."

Ginny squeezed her eyes tightly shut and pricked the correct finger. A bead of blood rose up and dropped to the parchment. Then a second. A third splashed. The fourth slid down her finger, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh quickly followed.

The goblin snatched the parchment away and whisked it into the next room.

A minute later, he was back with a piece of crisp white paper outlining her Inheritance. Ginny perused it somewhat sadly. She knew that she was only sixth in line- Bill, then Charlie, then Percy, then Fred and George (she thought of them as one entity, and anyways no one had any idea who was born first), and Ron. But what she saw surprised her immensely.

_Ginevra Weasley- Heir to the Weasley Line, Heir to the La Fey Line, Heir to the Hufflepuff Line_

_Blood Test_

_Lady Heiress to Helga Hufflepuff_

_Lady Heiress to Morgana La Fey_

_Lady Heiress to the Noble House of Prewett_

_Sixth Lady Heiress to the Honorable House of Weasley_

_Vaults: _

_Hufflepuff Vault_

_Prewett Vaults 1 and 2_

_Hogwarts Fund Vault for Ginevra Weasley_

_Properties: _

_Hufflepuff House- Switzerland_

_Hufflepuff Cottage-Switzerland_

_Hufflepuff Manor-England_

_Hufflepuff Woods- England_

_La Fey Forest- Norway_

_La Fey Castle-Norway_

_La Fey Chalet- France_

_Prewett Manor-Wales_

_Prewett Cabin-Ireland_

_Abilities: _

_Level 2 Occlumens_

_Level 1 Legilimens_

_Metamorph_

"I... I don't understand..." Ginny said, trembling.

The goblin leaned forward. "It appears your family is descended from Helga Hufflepuff and Morgana La Fey. Your mother is Molly Weasley, née Prewett, correct? The Prewetts are a line of firstborns from Helga to Fabian and Gideon, who are now deceased- and your mum. So now the Weasleys are a branch of the Hufflepuffs. The Weasleys have been descended from La Fey since Morgana's granchild Éloise La Fey married Sebastian Black, whose great-grandchild Wilma Black married a half-blood boy named Quinn Weasley."

"But... I have my brothers- six of them. They're older than me. How can it just drift down to me?"

The goblin explained, "This is called Inheritance. It 'drifts down to you' because you are the True Heir. No one has had possession of Helga's Fortune since..." He pondered. "I would guess a century. That's not very long compared to Godric, Rowena, and Salazar," he added at Ginny's wide-eyed gaze. "Helga's not as picky as the other Hogwarts Founders, but that doesn't mean she isn't a bit finnicky. Morgana is certainly very picky, however. You're the second heir she's ever had. But the Prewetts split their property long ago- the men of the line had one half and the women had the other. So half the Prewett fortune skips over brothers to the girls and half descends to the boys. You, being the only and oldest girl, get the Prewett fortune. The Prewetts haven't had a daughter in centuries- your mother never took the blood test and so never realized she had control over half the family fortune. She still, of course, reigns over it, but if you accept the ring it will immediately descend to you."

"Now," the goblin produced a black velvet box, a velvet purple one, and a plain gray one and laid them both on the table. "To make sure that the Hufflepuff, La Fey, and the Prewett line have properly accepted you as their Heiress, you must wear these Inheritance rings. It is a symbol of your Inheritance." He opened the gray one first, revealing a silver ring with a ruby in shape of a roaring lion. Ginny gasped.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen pretty jewelry before- but something about the ring struck her, the magical aura surrounding it serving to make it alluringly beautiful. Her hand reached out and reverently slid it on to her left ring finger.

As she did so it began to glow and fit itself to her finger.

"All behold Lady Ginevra Prewett!" The goblin announced. Ginny turned in her seat. "It's Ginevra Weasley, you seemed to know that before, Master Goblin..."

The goblin chuckled. "As Lady of the Prewett line, you are allowed to use Prewett as a valid title. And if Hufflepuff and La Fey fit you as well, you can use the names Ginevra Hufflepuff and Ginevra La Fey."

He then opened the second box, which was a delicate silver ring studded with ameythests shaped like flowers in the vine-like silver. The crown of the Inheritance ring was a pair of wings, demonstrating Morgana's fey heritage. Ginny slid it onto her right index finger. It glowed, but it fit already, unlike the larger Prewett ring.

The goblin proclaimed, "All hail Lady Ginevra La Fey!" He then opened the black Hufflepuff box.

Ginny gasped.

The Hufflepuff Inheritance ring was even more beautiful than the Prewett and La Fey rings. It was made of onyx and was inlaid with golden jewels that glowed, the biggest in the shape of a badger. Ginny slid it on as she had the Prewett ring, on the left middle finger this time, in reverence, and it glowed as well- even more brightly than her other ring had.

"All hail Lady Ginevra Hufflepuff!" The goblin announced. Ginny sat down heavily, the excitement solidifying into lead in her veins. She felt exhausted.

The goblin procured another piece of black parchment and another silver needle and passed them to Harry. He did as she had- pricked his right index finger and let seven drops of crimson blood fall to the parchment. The goblin frowned and carried the parchment into the adjacent room.

A few silent and awkward minutes passed by, as Rose Cooper stared at the redhead incredulously. The Weasley blush began to creep up her neck, into her cheeks, and then her hairline, and well, it was only so long before it had completely covered her face and was taking on her ears. Harry patted her back just as the teacher looked away.

Just then, thankfully, is when the goblin returned with three crisp white papers that had been stapled together. Harry took them from the goblin, somewhat more hopeful than Ginny had been. He knew that Joey had probably inherited it all, but because of Inheritance he thought he might have gotten a fair tidbit that could set him up for a career as Auror, or maybe an Unspeakable- as that was what he wanted to be.

But again, like Ginny, he was surprised.

_Harry Remus Potter- Heir to the Gryffindor Line, Heir to the Ravenclaw Line, Heir to the Merlin Line, Heir to Cassaria of the Oracles _

_Lord Heir to Godric Gryffindor_

_Lord Heir to Rowena Ravenclaw_

_Lord Heir to Merlin_

_Heir to Salazar Slytherin_

_The Warrior_

_Vaults: _

_Gryffindor Vault_

_Ravenclaw Vault_

_Merlin Vault_

_Warrior Vault_

_Properties: _

_Gryffindor Villa-Spain_

_Gryffindor Manor-Greece_

_Gryffindor Grounds-Greece_

_Gryffindor Home- England_

_1/4 Hogwarts_

_Ravenclaw Palace- France_

_Ravenclaw Valley- France_

_Ravenclaw Residence- Transylvania_

_Ravenclaw House- Germany_

_1/4 Hogwarts_

_Merlin Manor- England_

_Merlin Woods- England_

_Merlin Castle- Finland_

_1/2 of Extraordinary Society of Magical People- Luxembourg_

_Warrior Warehouse- Lithuania_

_Abilities: _

_Lvl 4 Parseltongue_

_Lvl 2 Occlumens_

_Lvl 2 Legilimens_

Harry was floored. "I... I don't even know..."

The goblin nodded. "The reason it took me longer in there, Master Harry, is that I was trying to figure out. Your family is descended from Godric and Rowena- who had two children, Niviane and Helena Gryffindor. Niviane married Merlin, so it ties into your heritage. But what of the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, you ask? And of the Warrior? I have decided this... You are the Warrior of the Prophecy."

Harry tilted his head. "What Warrior?"

Everyone gasped. Ginny clapped her hand to her mouth. "Harry, haven't you heard that story by Balma Bagshot? _Joey The Warrior- Cassaria's Prophecy_? It's a speculation that the well-known prophecy is also linked to a prophecy made by a Seer, who was the Oracle of Delphi at the time."_  
_

Harry shook his head. The goblin intervened, "It is a prophecy said in the time of the Ancient Greeks. Cassaria, a Seer, learned of a prophecy. She thought it was so immensely important that she allocated some funds and created a Gringotts vault and a few properties to be given to the Warrior. The prophecy is as follows-

_The Warrior will be forsaken by the White King who lies_

_Born to red and black as the seventh month dies _

_to the parents that thrice defied the Snake Lord_

_Cast off to the Shadows for a peasant, the Warrior on will forge. _

_A time of bloodshed shall follow, until the Snake is destroyed._

_With many that serve, total chaos he avoids._

"If her Ring accepts you, Harry Potter, you are the Warrior. And that means that Joey Potter was not the Chosen One... but that you are. And that means that Voldemort, who is presumed to be the Snake Lord, marked you as his equal... and essentially marked you as his Heir." Numbly, Harry nodded. Rose tried to form words, and Ginny choked on the sharp intake of breath that had entered her body when she had read the list.

He slid the rings over to Harry. The first box was red velvet, the second blue silk, the third decorated with a violet ribbon. The fourth was a sparkling dark gray that glittered. Upon close examination, it was revealed to be made of diamond.

Harry took the first box and opened it. Gryffindor's Inheritance Ring was made of gold and studded with rubies, with a roaring lion of ruby in the middle. Harry slid it onto his finger. It glowed fiercely as it fit itself to his finger.

"All hail Lord Harry Gryffindor!"

Next, Harry took the silken blue box. Ravenclaw's Inheritance Ring was silver and studded with sapphires, with a soaring sapphire eagle gracing the top of the ring. Harry put this ring on as well. It glowed even more brightly than Gryffindor's had, but it didn't fit itself to his finger. It didn't need to.

"All hail Lord Harry Ravenclaw!"

The violet and gold box with the ribbon was opened reverently. Merlin's Inheritance Ring, which had been crafted originally for his love Niviane, was golden and studded with amethysts, the main jewel a beautiful phoenix that was opening its mouth in song. He placed it on his left ring finger and it tightened to fit to his skinny little finger, glowing.

"All hail Lord Harry Merlin!"

The last box, made of diamond that glittered, intrigued Harry. The Ring of the Warrior was made of diamond and studded with pearls and onyx. The crown piece was a single Ying-Yang piece, combining the pearl and onyx, that took Harry's breath away. It seemed drawn to him, and he didn't have to reach out for it for it to zoom towards his finger, rays of light shining through it.

"All hail the Warrior, Harry Potter!"

* * *

Harry, who was ashen, left Gringotts after collecting a moneybag of Galleons. Ginny had her own money bag, jingling with coins. Rose was muttering about Kirnella and cousins and something about a great-aunt. The younger children left her alone, checking their lists.

At Flourish and Blotts, they bought the many books on the list- _Occlumency and Legilimency, Parseltongue And Its Magic, Elementals, Animagus Theory, Power Scales And How To Reach Levels, _and the Standard Book of Spells 1 and 2 were only a few examples.

At the Apocathary they picked up the standard potions-making kit- Rose, who had snapped out of her stupor, explained that while they couldn't get wands or do spells yet, they would do Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Magical Theory, and other specialized classes.

Harry and Ginny were delighted at this, and celebrated with ice cream- Harry had a double raspberry chocolate with chopped nuts and Ginny a triple mint chip vanilla cookie dough with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

After a satisfying 'lunch' AKA sweets from Fortescue's supply, Harry went to Filibuster's and bought a package of fireworks. He intended to wreak havoc on the Society. It sounded a little too fake for him. He would have to lighten them up.

While he did this, Ginny bought herself a stash of candy from the Diagon Alley Honeydukes branch-in fact, she sold out half the store. She was susceptible to her Honeydukes, and the slabs of chocolate were _hers. _

At one, they met up and got robes at Madam Malkin's. That was uneventful, except for the small fact that they ran into none other than Harry's Mum. Lily Potter.

"HARRY POTTER, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!"


	6. Chapter 6: Lily's Wrath and Lily's Tears

**Ohmigosh guys I'm so, so sorry for being so late! Like, really, I'm ashamed of myself. I just started watching Sherlock and I was drowning in all the Johnlock feels, so I went on Tumblr, and then I had a feels attack... I know it's no excuse for this being, like, a month late! I AM SO SORRY! PLEASE, DON'T THROW TOMATOES AT ME!**

**Sorry...**

**Also, I just want to clarify something. In case anyone is wondering. I mentioned a couple of chapters ago that the Society doesn't let their students use magic. I made that decision because even though Harry and Ginny will be awesome, they aren't superheroes! They know some Occlumency and Legilimency, and Harry's a Parseltongue, but that's not very deviant from canon. In these two years, Harry and Gin are going to learn theory. Like, Animagi theory, Hogwarts Class Theory, and other stuff... so they will have an advantage over their classmates, but Ginny's only done wandless for a couple months, and that's simple things like Wingardium. Harry's going to have a larger advantage, because... well, he's been working on it for a couple YEARS, but it's still pretty simple stuff. WANDLESS MAGIC IS HARD. **

**At least... I think so? Well yeah cuz no one ever does it except for Dumbledore and Snape I think... ANYWAYS, ON WITH THIS STUFF. **

**Oh yeah, and I realized that James seems like an awful person. He thinks that he's doing the right thing- doesn't every evil person think so? And he's just being a giant dick about it. Although Dumbles...**

**Okay, now that that's been clarified ****I'll just get on with it.**

**I don't own the Harry Potter Franchise. It belongs to Joanne Kathleen Rowling. I only own this ridiculously overused yet irresistible plotline, and I doubt I own even that...**

Lily Potter, her burnished red hair tied up in a braid with green ribbons that made her eyes pop, stood in a short green dress in the shop, hand to her throat in astonishment as her shriek echoed around the shop. However, no one (except maybe Rose Cooper) was marveling at her beauty. Ginny bit her lip and Harry inhaled sharply as the matriarch of the Potter family stared at her older son, blinking profusely.

Harry winced as Ginny groaned internally. Harry, apparently, had not taken her advice about telling his mother about his acceptance at the Society. The redheaded girl cursed under her breath.

The redhead crossed over to where her son was being fitted in black robes with the silvered Society crest. She grabbed him by the scruff of her neck and Ginny winced, as did Harry as she tugged him off of the stool.

"Harry Remus Potter, what are you doing here? How did you even get here? And why, pray tell, are you getting fitted out with robes? Have you been going through the family vaults? You swine! You little-" Lily snarled, at a loss for words, and in a fit of anger, twisted the skin on the back of Harry's neck. Harry howled in pain.

"OW! Mum- MUM! Stop it! That hurts! Please, Mum, I promise I can explain, just please, please, please let go of my- ack- neck!" The boy screamed and begged as he tried to get out of his Mum's unforgiving grip.

"You have no idea how much your father and I have been sick with worry over you! We've been _sick _with it! Now, Harry, you are coming home with me now, and I promise, your father will be not be nice about anything you've done!" As Lily began to drag Harry out of the shop. This, however, loosened her grip on him. With a whimper, Harry managed to twist out of his mother's grip and made to run. Lily caught his arm and slapped him across the face. Hard.

That was the last straw for Ginny. She screamed in anger. Blue bolts of energy leapt from her fingers and, for lack of a better word, _zapped_ Lily straight in the face.

The woman gasped in pain and turned to the little eight-year-old. "Ginevra Weasley!"

The Weasley girl screamed. "Don't you dare touch him! He's my friend, and I promised, I told him- you'd be good about this! I told him you would understand! I mean, maybe the spotlight went to your head. Oh, yes- an airheaded, spoiled little celebrity! That must have been what happened! With your sister and being Head Girl and all that! And with your son, after all, being the BWL!"

Lily's hand went slack as Ginny continued to rant at her. "And you're just embarassed that your son- the _real, _more powerful, _human _son, _Harry freakin' Potter, _was the stronger one, in the end! I checked with Harry! He's on the lists of four other schools already, has been since he was born! Reserved at Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Salem's Institute for Wizards- the Witches' Brother School- and the Society of Extraordinary Magical People! The Luxembourg school! And we're going to go to the Society, and Rose Cooper will take us. You- you can work on your blatant favoritism! At least you bought Harry a broom!"

Lily Potter was reduced, for once, to silence. Harry had backed away from his mother as she talked, and as Lily stared at her elder son, she looked at him- _really _looked at him.

She saw a child who was afraid of his parents, who faded into the shadows too easily for a child of nine. A child who hadn't been loved by anyone except for his godparents, Alice Longbottom and Remus Lupin, and of course by Sirius Black, his honorary godfather. A boy who had hoped against hope that maybe- just maybe- his mum would look at him, his dad would clap his back with a "Nice spellwork, kiddo," or a smile. Something that all children deserved- but he had to beg for it.

And it made her burst into sobs.

"Mum," Harry said, rushing to her. "Please, Mum, I love you. It's okay, you needed to take care of Joey. I get it. I understand."

"But you don't like it," Lily said miserably, wiping her face. "I mean, Harry... you shouldn't have to know that. You shouldn't _have _to get it, Harry. It's not right."

Her son smiled sadly and kissed her cheek. "Of course it's not right, Mum," he said. "Of course it isn't. But... so long as Da's got the power, it's how it's gonna be. And I'm just... I can deal with that. I always have, and until-" he glanced at Ginny. Something seemed to pass between them, but what, Lily couldn't tell. "Until I grow up, it's just how it's gonna be."

"Okay, okay. It seems like this may take a while," Lily whipped her head around, where she saw the prim blonde witch who was checking her watch. "If you'd like, we could go for a cup of tea and discuss this there? Because I expect that Madam Malkin is eavesdropping." With a sigh, she shot off a Burn Hex. A squeal resounded through the shop.

Lily nodded curtly. "First, let's get Harry and Ginny fitted with their robes."

* * *

When they were done, they went to a small tea shop next to Flourish and Blott's. Sipping her tea, Lily looked at the two children. "So," she started. "Why are you in Diagon Alley?"

Ginny grinned.

"A couple weeks back we got a letter from a magical Société in an unknown country. They asked us to attend their school, a very good and highly praised boarding school, and we accepted."

"You're too young," Lily cried. "You can't go off to a boarding school! I won't allow it! You'll strain your magical cores. And if it's so renowned, why isn't Joey going? He is the BWL, after all. No offense meant to you, Harry."

Harry sighed and propped his head up in his hands. "They let us come back for a few days every month. A break. And we don't do magic, we just learn theory. Like Transfiguration and Charms. And Joey... Joey may be the BWL but he's not- look, mum, I don't really know. Apparently, he hasn't come into his magic. Maybe it's that." He shrugged, exchanging a glance with Ginny.

Lily nodded, furrowing her brow. "Alright... say I accepted letting you go. When would you go?"

Harry blushed. "Now?"

His mum glared. "And you only saw fit to inform me now?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't let me go!" The oldest Potter child protested. "It's like if Auntie Petunia didn't let you go to Hogwarts. You would have tried your damndest to go anyways, right?"

"No swearing," Lily scolded. "But other than that, yes. I would have."

Her son nodded. "Do you get it?"

"Yes," Lily admitted reluctantly. "I do." She stood. "I hope that you have the best of times at your Society. So long as you come back for visits."

Harry laughed. "Of course, mum."

Lily bent down and kissed his forehead. "Write every week. I love you."

Harry smiled and kissed Lily's cheek. "I love you too, Mum."

Then Lily walked off as quickly as she could, until she got to a bathroom where she could be alone, where she promptly bawled her eyes out.

* * *

Harry and Ginny went back to the Apothecary after that, procuring potions' ingredients.

Then they double- and triple-checked that they had everything. And then Rose Cooper took their hands.

"Time to go, children."

They were squeezed through a tunnel of whirling colors, until they landed on the floor of a golden room, furnished with lush carpets and glossy wooden paneling.

"Hello," a voice said. "I am Kirnella Gray, your headmistress."

Harry and Ginny looked up, into the smiling gray eyes of a woman with a kind face. Their headmistress, Kirnella Gray.

"And welcome to the Society."

**I AM DONE. YES.**

**Again, sorry for the long wait. I hope that ch. 7 isn't going to be as long a wait. **

**Cheerio!**

**~Lea**


	7. Chapter 7: Society, Luna, and Hermione

**Hello! I'm back! Ready to meet Kirnella? Yep? Good!**

**I don't own the Harry Potter Franchise, which is far too vast for me to even fathom guessing at. It belongs to JK Rowling. All of it... From Universal Studios to the books to the movies to the merchandise... *drools* And I don't own _Through The Looking Glass _or _The Phantom Tollbooth _either. They belong to Lewis Carroll and Norton Juster. Respectively. **

**ALSO! TWO CANON CHARACTERS INTRODUCED! Ginny and Luna are 1 year older than in canon, I thinks? It works better that way.**

**Rating of story has been changed to M for mention of sexual abuse of minor.**

**Kirnella POV**

Kirnella Gray, Headmistress of the Extraordinary Society of Magical People, was a stately woman. She reminded many people of Minerva McGonagall, with her imposing prescence, gray eyes, and black hair twisted up in a tight bun, giving her the impression of a no-nonsense woman who 'would not tolerate fooling around'.

She chuckled to herself. If anyone didn't tolerate nonsense, it was her fiancée Rose Cooper. Kirnella, however, was rather fond of nonsense, tosh, rubbish, balderdash, etc. Her favorite book was _Through The Looking Glass_ by Lewis Carroll, closely followed by _The Phantom Tollbooth, _which she had been reading when her fiancée and two children Apparated into her office.

The Headmistress laid down her book, marking her page with her silver strip of paper with the crest of the Society, gazed down at the two children. Honestly, she pitied them. Their lives so far had been so very terrible. Harry, neglected. Ginny, seen as a perfect porcelain doll. Never allowed to feel things like the whipping of wind past their cheeks as they ride brooms.

And now she was getting poetic. Bloody hell. And now she had reverted to 'Thinking Mode' and the silence was getting more than a little awkward. She spoke.

"Hello, Miss Weasley-Prewett-LaFey-Hufflepuff," She said, tone pleasant and polite. "And a good day to you, Mr. Potter-Gryffindor-Ravenclaw-Merlin, Warrior."

The boy nodded politely. "Hello Headmistress Gray. It is very nice to meet you." The girl smiled at her. "Pleasure, Headmistress Gray."

Kirnella smiled happily. She liked politeness. Nonsensical polite people were the best type of people.

"You as well. Miss Prewett- I hope you don't mind if I refer to you as Prewett- and Mr. Potter, the pleasure is wholly mine. I am Kirnella Gray, Headmistress of this Extraordinary Society, commonly referred to as Extraordinary. Please, call it that."

The children nodded.

"I trust you have your classes picked out?"

Another nod was garnered.

"Very well. Have you written them down? Based on your preferences I will compose a schedule for you that will tell you what to do during the day."

Harry produced a fat notebook from his pack and meticulously peeled out a page. Ginny also pulled out an identical book with a sole difference, color (it was blue, compared to Harry's black) but she ripped out the page with far more abandon than the neat boy.

Kirnella flicked her gaze over them. All in all they were good choices- Harry had chosen Magical Languages, Fitness, Power Scaling, Wandless and Wordless Magic, Animagus, and the four Hogwarts classes. It was identical to Ginny's choices. With a flick of her wand, Kirnella gave them two identical schedules.

_Silver Day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)_

_7:00- 8:15- Breakfast_

_8:30- 10:00- Wandless and Wordless Magic taught by Ms. Rose Cooper_

_10:00- 11:30- Fitness taught by Mr. David Qwesterlies_

_11:30- 12:30- Lunch _

_12:45- 1:45- Transfiguration taught by Miss Willow Appleton_

_1:45- 2:45- DADA taught by Ms. Rose Cooper_

_2:45- 4:15- Magical Languages taught by Mr. David Qwesterlies_

_4:15- 5:30- Studying/Free Period_

_5:45- 7:00- Dinner and Announcements_

_7:00- 8:30- Clubs_

_8:30- 10:00- Studying/Free Period_

_10:00- Lights Out_

_YOU MUST BE OUT OF THE CORRIDORS BY 10 O'CLOCK. _

_Golden Day- (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)_

___7:00- 8:15- Breakfast_

_8:30- 10:00- Power Scaling taught by Miss Willow Appleton_

_10:00- 11:30- Fitness taught by Mr. David Qwesterlies_

_11:30- 12:30- Lunch_

_12:45- 1:45- Potions and Alchemy taught by Mrs. Perenelle Flamel_

_1:45- 2:45- Charms taught by Mrs. Perenelle Flamel_

_2:45- 4:15- Animagus Classes taught by Miss Cloris Crispe_

_4:15- 5:30- Studying/Free Period_

_5:45- 7:00- Dinner and Announcements_

_7:00- 8:30- Clubs_

_8:30- 10:00-Studying/Free Period_

_10:00- Lights Out_

_YOU MUST BE OUT OF THE CORRIDORS BY 10 O'CLOCK._

_White Day (Saturday, Breaks) _

_8:00-9:15- Breakfast_

_9:15-10:00- Free_

_10:00- 11:30- Fitness taught by Mr. David Qwesterlies_

_11:30- 12:30- Lunch_

_12:45- 1:45- History Of Magic taught by Miss Cloris Crispe_

_1:45- 5:30- Free_

_5:30-7:00- Dinner And Announcements_

_7:00- 11:00- Free Time_

_11:00- LIGHTS OUT_

_YOU MUST BE OUT OF THE CORRIDORS BY 11 O'CLOCK ON WHITE DAYS_

Both Harry and Ginny gave approving smiles as they surveyed their choices. "So we have identical schedules? Thank you." Ginny asked. Kirnella nodded. "You're welcome. Now, it is growing late. Rose- I mean, Professor Cooper will escort you to your house."

"House?" Harry inquired. "I didn't think we were separated here. It didn't mention anything about the Houses... so what Houses are there then? In Hogwarts, they sort by personality but I get the feeling it's not like that here."

"No, no, I mean nothing like the Hogwarts Houses. I mean quite literally houses. You see, this place- Extraordinary- is actually a small town that is disguised as the Luxembourgeois village of Wilterwitz. The houses are your dorms. Each classroom is a building, and the meadow is our Fitness area. We are here because nobody dreams of checking tiny Luxembourgois towns for a special school. That means that no angry parents, no matter how frusterated they are that that their -usually pompous- child wasn't accepted, can send us Howlers, or worse, march up to the school itself." Kirnella gave a dramatic shudder. "Now, here are your maps, and Rosie- I MEAN Professor Cooper will escort you to your home for the next two years."

She passed the two maps forward, and Harry and Ginny exchanged excited glances. "Do you have Quidditch here?" Harry asked. Kirnella winked. "We do, in fact, have six teams- Silver, White, Black, Gold, Light, and Dark. And we do a Quidditch unit in Fitness. I've heard tell that Prewetts and Potters are good on a broom, and I personally root for Silver... my hopes are high for both of you."

Harry nodded as Ginny took his hand, and Rose escorted them out of the room.

Kirnella smiled. She had a hunch both of them would be great students. And Kirnella's hunches were rarely wrong

* * *

Harry stared in amazement at the magnificently modeled house. It had a fully stocked and enchanted refrigerator that magically refilled itself and could be programmed to the owner's preferences and signature. The beds were soft and large, the walls painted perfectly, the furniture clean and shining. There was a potions room, for gods sake!.The house had a living room, family room, training room, kitchen, two bathroom, an office, two bedrooms, and the aforementioned potion room.

The first had a black and gold color scheme and was full of sleek polished dark wooden surfaces. Harry claimed it immediately.

The second had a silver and white color scheme that was full of comfortable, soft things that Ginny immediately fell in love with.

The bathrooms and office had a white and black color scheme, the kitchen had silver and black, the training room used silver and gold, the potion room was a simple dark cauldron color and the living and family room used the white and gold color scheme that Ginny adored.

As Harry stared in amazement at the walls of his room, unused to such luxurious quarters, Ginny smiled. "I think- I think we could be happy here..." she whispered in awe. "I think this could be pretty good. It looks nice.. I mean... yeah, this is the place we need. This could be pretty good. Couldn't it, Harry?"

Harry smiled. "Yes. It could be."

Hand in hand, they walked into the halls of the house they would stay in for the next two years.

* * *

Their clock rang at 7 o'clock the next Tuesday morn. Harry, bleary-eyed, stumbled out of his room, getting into his robes and pinning the crest to his left chest pocket as Ginny cheerfully walked downstairs, already dressed in her black robes and sipping a cup of coffee she'd fetched from the fridge.

After poring over the maps, checking their schedules, and packing their black bookbags, they set off to a rather large building in the center of the village. Inside, it looked a little like a fancy resturant. There were circular tables everywhere, set with pristine plates. A buffet table was set up near one end of the room, laden with any type of food you can imagine and practically groaning with the weight, and another huge table was set up near the end. Ginny thought perhaps it was for the teachers. The walls were completely made of mirrors and the ceiling was open to the sky. Harry wondered what they did if it rained, until he noticed there actually was a ceiling, it was simply enchanted to look like the sky, exactly like Hogwarts. Somebody was copying, he mused. He just wasn't sure who.

They took seats at an empty table. But it wasn't just them for long. A girl with pale white-blonde hair and rainbow glasses sat down next to them. "Hello," she smiled in a high, sweet and whimsical tone. "I'm Luna Lovegood. Welcome to Extraordinary. I just got here and according to Miss Crispe, they put us in groups of three or more to get ourselves acquainted properly. So I got assigned to you guys."

Ginny gave her a mischievous grin. "Ginny Weasley. Nice to meet you." Harry shook her hand. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you. And why weren't we informed about that groups thing?"

Luna smiled shyly back. "It's nice to meet you too, Ginny. And the pleasure is mine, Harry. I have no idea, but I think it might be written somewhere in your notebook. Check."

Harry immediately flipped through the book and laughed in amazement; there it was _assigned to group 9 with Luna Lovegood, Ginny, and Hermione Granger. _

"How did you figure that?" Ginny asked, eyes wide.

Luna giggled. "Magic."

Harry laughed. "You caught me there. No, but seriously, how?"

Luna shrugged. "I've always been able to see things, weirdly enough. Do you want to go eat something?"

They nodded, still in a little shock, and Luna stood, leading them to the back of the room. As Ginny speared some sausages on the serving dish and scraped them onto her plate, Luna asked, "Do you guys want to be my friends?"

It was so blunt that Ginny and Harry were a little taken aback. When they got over their shock, they immediately responded, "Sure!" Luna seemed nice, after all she had sat down next to two strangers, the two new kids she didn't even know. Even if they were in her group. And she had acted kind.

"You'll get a bad reputation, I have to warn you. People will hurt you- and me, but that already happens, and I'm okay with that- for hanging out with the sexually abused freak who at nine is better than a couple of the 11-year-olds at magic and is a 'delicate little flower', whom no one would even dream of hurting. Yeah right." Luna's voice had taken on a bitter quality.

Ginny gasped. "You were sexually abused?"

Harry blinked. "They- the people, the kids here- they hurt you?"

Luna brought her stuff back to the table, accompanied by the incredulous duo, and sat with a thud, stabbing at her hash browns. "Yes. But I'd rather not talk about it. And of course they hurt me, Harry Potter, have Wrackspurts contaminated your eyesight? Look around you, there are nine hundred kids here who half the time don't know any manners, because Mummy was too busy marveling over their magical talent to teach them anything about social decency. This place may be just about the greatest place to learn, but terrible people get in too. And who's a better target than the Loony girl who wears weird rainbow glasses and nobody defends and everybody hates? They've already targeted me, and I got here two days ago." Her voice was bitter and was raising in volume, and tears began to accumulate in her big blue eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just- I understand if you don't want to be my friends anymore, Harry, Ginny. Excuse me." She got up, but she didn't get very far. Ginny leapt forward and clutched her arm. "Hey, don't go," Ginny said softly. "I'm not going to judge you and if Harry does- which he won't- I'll kick his fat arse."

Harry pouted and Luna laughed in that relieved way that people do after crying, sniffling as she did. "I think the Nargles have gotten to you, honestly, but okay then."

"The what?"

* * *

After a hearty breakfast and a long description of the Nargles, Luna departed for her Magical Languages course as the other two walked to their Power Scaling class, a rather small building right on the outskirts of town. According to their schedule, Miss Willow Appleton was the teacher. Not knowing what to expect, they plopped themselves down at two adjacent seats, pulled out their books, and fidgeted a little in attendance.

Willow Appleton was _young. _If Harry had to guess, he would place her at the age of perhaps seventeen, so just out of Hogwarts, or Durmstrang, or Beauxbatons, and a new teacher. She was thin and rather short, with green eyes and straight blond hair, sitting in her desk, absentmindedly creating swirls of yellow light and reading a bunch of papers.

The early bell rang and a bunch of students piled in, one being a girl with brown bushy hair. "Excuse me," she said bossily, tapping her foot and sending Harry an impatient glance. "That's my seat. I would highly appreciate it if you moved, thank you."

Harry cleared out his desk, blushing, and moved to the seat next hers. "Thank you," the bushy girl smiled in appreciation, sliding into the rickety chair. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Granger?" Harry asked. "I'm Harry Potter, this is Ginny Weasley.

Ginny smiled and reached out to shake her hand as Harry shook her other hand, making for a bit of a stretch for the girl in the middle, and then Miss Appleton cleared her throat and got up to start the lesson (_finally_) and they immediately got out their books and notebooks to start taking notes.

They kept sending each other glances whenever the Professor said something they didn't quite understand, they discussed it at lunch, and after lessons they met up with Luna at dinner. Over the table, the four tentative friends grinned at each other, ready to start the year.

It was the start of the two years that encompassed the part of their lives they loved the most.

Two years later, as Harry stood in Diagon Alley in 1991, he started the part where he suffered.

***collapses* okay that's done. **

**I'm not proud of this chapter. It didn't flow just like I wanted it to. And I summed up two years of Harry's magical education in like 2,500 words. I'm probably going to regret that later but right now, I can't bring myself to care. I might go more in depth on it next chapter, though. Yes. Next chapter.**

**BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, Harry's wand, familiar, Sorting, and three more good friends are next!**

**-Lea. **


	8. Chapter 8: Shopping and Surprising Sorts

**Thestral hair significance as a core: proficiency in air magic and transfiguration. Usually is attracted to misunderstood or excluded people. Air elementals or Dark Wizards preferred. **

**Ice Dragon fang: THE core for ice magic and DADA. Is attracted to orphans, as Ice Dragons are orphaned at a young age. Their parents leave them when they are 3 months old, and they learn to survive on their own or in pairs.**

**Fire Dragon claw: Best for fire magic and also good in DADA and charms. Is attracted to people with tempers and extroverts. **

**Fairy Wings: See Wandlore on Pottermore.**

**Sphinx Hair: Cool mind and courage. Good for water magic and transfiguration.**

**Succubi Hair- the most temperamental core, even more so than Veela, and it doesn't matter how you treat your wand, because it is very very sensitive and judges on how judgemental you are. It all depends on your initial reaction. If you react kindly or are tolerant of your core, they will perform well for you. Some of the best wizards had Succubi Hair cores. However, if you don't act well towards it you will be one of the worst wizards EVER, because it WILL turn against you.**

**Joey reacts to his wand badly because Succubi and their brother species Incubi are classified as Dark by the Ministry AND Dumbledore, and the Potters follow Dumbledore blindly. The Ministry ruled that they were Dark when in 1853, a Mrs. Allisfort (a pureblood witch)walked in on her husband and a Russian Succubus by name of Tasha Dmitrievna having sex. Weeping, she ran to the still relatively new Ministry with her woes, and they consoled her with a ruling that Succubi and by relation Incubi were Dark creatures in Allisfort VS Dmitrievna. They had absolutely no evidence, and most people were shocked by the ruling that Succubi and Incubi could control minds. But the Ministry was young and pliable (AKA they were bribed), and slowly the public came to accept it and detested the species. Mr. Allisfort, who had been sane and sound during the whole affair, felt terrible- Tasha lost her job and was sent to Azkaban, where she died a few weeks later. He attempted to overrule the decree (Allisfort VS Ministry Decree) and failed. Ever since Succubi and Incubi have been seen as being Dark in Britain but nowhere else, because magical Britain is ruled by idiots.**

**And Joey, of course, is afraid of being seen as Dark...**

**At least, that's my headcanon. *shrugs* Holsters are a galleon apiece, wands are 7 (but Harry's is triple because it's custom) and polishing kits are 2 sickles.**

**The Quartet are muggle book fans.**

**I don't own Harry Potter, any part of the Sherlock fandom, LotR, or Wonder. They belong to JK Rowling, Sir Arthur C. Doyle, J.R. Tolkien and R. J. Palacio.**

_-Parseltongue-_

_Books And Quotes_

_The Hat_

_**Harry's Thoughts While Talking To The Hat**_

Soulbond talking

Harry Potter stood at the counter of Flourish and Blotts, buying the last book he needed for Hogwarts, _The Dark Forces- A Guide To Self-Protection, _by Quentin Trimble. Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Luna Lovegood, his best friends, waited impatiently outside, eating their ice-creams, Luna holding his (chocolate raspberry with chopped nuts, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, and gummy worms..

Well, actually only Ginny was impatient. Hermione couldn't be bothered. She was reading _Hogwarts, A History, _her favorite book, and she was probably unaware that her owl Cynthia was nibbling on her brand-new aquamarine necklace. And Luna... well, Luna rarely got worked up about things, being Luna.

Harry slipped the book into his satchel and rejoined them outside. "To Ollivander's, then?" The boy asked, checking his watch. He really wanted to get his wand. For most of his life they had used wandless magic, if at all, and he wanted to get started practicing wand magic. It would be so much easier. It only took ten spells or so to get his magical core tired while using wandless- not including Lumos or Nox, thank god, or he would have collapsed in bed multiple times.

Ginny disagreed. "I want to go to Eeylops' Owl Emporium, and then Magical Pets." Ginny had never had a pet and couldn't use an owl other than Errol (who wasn't up to being an owl anymore, really) unlike Harry, who had used his parents' owls Hestia and Ares many times, and Hermione, who had rented an owl named Cynthia so that she could correspond with her friends. No one was really sure about Luna's pet-prospecting. She claimed she had a Nargle, but the other three were still undecided on the existence of Nargles, much less Luna's ownership of them.

Hermione sighed. "But I need more quills!" She protested, pulling out yet another broken quill. Harry winced. Hermione was prone to long opinion pieces on the treatment of House Elves and she tended to break quills while writing them, because she pressed down hard on the point. It was likely that when they got home that Hermione would send them her newest draft of her book, which was a work-in-progress. Not that Harry didn't like her book- it was actually rather fascinating, if you did bother to get through the introduction, which contained a whole lot of ranting- but he really did want to get his wand first. _  
_

Luna, ever the peacemaker, resolved it. "I think first we ought to go to Amanuensis Quills, to get Hermione some new quills, and then we probably should go to Ollivander's. Then we can get pets. But after that, can we go to the Quibbler stand? I want to see the newest issue. Daddy wrote to me saying he included my poll on the Crumple-Horned-Snorkacks, and he also wrote in your piece on Albus Dumbledore, Hermione."

Hermione beamed in pride as the others congratulated her on the publication. She wanted to be a journalist or a writer, and this would be her first publication ever, aside from the little articles in the Society's monthly magazine, _Le Revue. _Although she had trained hard for that as well, learning French and Luxembourgese to translate her articles herself, making no mistakes, the Quibbler was huge for her. It was an established magazine with a lot of renown that was known to be true by only the smartest of witches and wizards. And if that renown wasn't all that good, it was okay. More people would read it. It was a big moment for the Muggleborn witch, being a published journalist at age eleven. It made her feel quite grown-up, and Hermione promptly admonished Harry not to run, feeling a little motherly.

They set off. The bookworm bought herself two of the new unbreakable diamond quills, wincing a little at the price. After that, they walked down to Ollivander's, Harry bouncing on his toes the entire way, grinning like a madman.

As they entered the room, drinking in the scent of old magic, all four sighed in anticipation. It was a blissful moment.

Until they heard the screams of Joey Potter from somewhere in the back of the store.

"I DON'T WANT THIS WAND! IT HAS SUCCUBI HAIR AS A CORE, YOU STUPID SNAKE! IT'S DISGUSTING!"

Harry snickered. _House-elf snot? _Really? It appeared that the BWL's wand wasn't that good after all.

"AND EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT SUCCUBI ARE INFERIOR!"

Hermione growled. The rest of the quartet glanced at each other. If Joey continued along this line, there would be no stopping their Muggleborn friend. One of her first friends at the Society had been an American Succubus named Rosalind. Hermione would disembowl Joey and feed the remains to his parents. And the rest of them would not stop her- Rosalind had been kind to them, though she remained primarily Hermione's friend.

"You can count on never seeing the Potters here again for wands," James said firmly as the family came into view, walking down one of the aisles. "I can't believe you would deny my son a powerful wand. It's despicable. Our business will go to Gregorovitch, the Bulgarian wandmaker. Come now, Joey, Lily. Let's go get our Joey fitted for his Gryffindor robes."

Luna sighed. Honestly, they didn't even know if he would be Sorted into Gryffindor. What was so special about the lion House anyways? Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin were just as good as Gryffindor.

Joey burst out of the doors, immediately plastering a smile onto his face as people noticed him and began to gather. Reporters dashed over, looking for a chance to interview the great Boy-Who-Lived. Ginny gritted her teeth. She _hated _the slimy, backstabbing paparazzi- especially Rita Skeeter, the most notorious of them all- with a fierce passion.

Ollivander walked up the aisle after them, shaking his heads. The group of four went up to him. All of them, not just Harry, were very excited to get their wands. Just because they had trained didn't mean they weren't children, and their eyes were shining.

"Hello," said the old wandmaker, smiling wearily down at the quartet. "Are you here to get wands, wand polishing kits, or wand holsters?"

"All of them," Harry responded. Ollivander pulled out a box.

"Who would like to go first?" he asked.

"Me! Me!" Hermione waved her hand in the air and bounded over to the wand.

"What is your name?"

"Hermione, Hermione Granger." she announced, flashing a smile of brilliant white teeth. Hermione's parents were dentists, and so she had perfect teeth- the only fault in them was the buck front teeth.

"This is not a classroom, child," the wandmaker scolded gently. "You do not need to raise your hand. I can see your excitement perfectly well. Try this. Dragon heartstring, birch, 12 inches."

Hermione flicked the wand. Nothing happened, and she returned it to Ollivander.

"All right then. Let's try this. Phoenix feather, vine, 13 inches."

Another wave. "No, no. How about-"

And so it continued for five or so minutes, with each wand proving a failure. Ginny got bored and began to reread her copy of _Marvin the Mad Muggle, _and Luna attempted to fend off overenthusiastic Wrackspurts (or so she said). Even the wand-obsessed Harry began to tap his foot after a while of the same thing over and over again.

That is, until Ollivander produced a wand of hornbeam wood, nice and stiff, 12 inches, with mane hair of a young Sphinx, good for water magic and transfiguration. Hermione waved it and then gasped. It lit up with bright red sparks.

Next, Luna smiled serenly as she went through a dozen or so wands. Her final wand was made of reed and white pine, with the wing of a fairy as the core. It was one of Ollivander's more flexible wands, and it was 10 inches, the absolute best wand for Charms. Luna grinned and began to wave it, blue tendrils of pure magic floating through the air.

Ginny went next. After a full eighteen wands (she had been counting in her excitement) they landed on a hawthorn and redwood combination, with the powdered claw of a fire dragon- a Hungarian Horntail, to be precise. It was sturdy, 11 inches, and the absolute best for the control and manipulation of fire, as well as DADA and charms. Ginny squealed in happiness and started to play with the wand happily.

Harry couldn't wait. Ollivander gave him one of Ginny's cast-off wands. "Rosewood, 14 inches, brittle, unicorn hair-"

He took it. The dark wood tip glowed fiercely. Ollivander clapped. "Good, good. That will be-"

The wand exploded with a BANG! shards of dark wood flying everywhere. Harry ducked instinctively, squeezing his eyes shut. One flew past right where Harry's eye had been just moments before. Ollivander opened his mouth and shut it silently, like a fish gasping for air out of water.

"It seems, Mr. Potter, that you need a custom wand," he announced after collecting himself. "Come back in half an hour."

* * *

Another half-hour later, the Quartet returned, having read the latest issue of the Quibbler. Ron (Ginny's brother, whom Harry had met the time he visited at Ginny's and had befriended) and a brunet boy whom he recognized as Neville Longbottom- one of Luna's best friends- were sitting in the front of the store, fidgeting. When Ginny's older brother saw them, he yelled, "Hey, Harry! Can you get him to come out? He's blabbering on about custom wands. He apparently needs to fix up a special wand for someone. How many Galleons that Joey Potter insisted on it? Oh, hey Gin- oof!"

Harry laughed as Ginny flew into her brother's open arms. "Oh Ron! I've been trying to get you to see that he's a git, and look! You understand! What happened for this sudden change of heart?"

Ron growled. "He insulted you! He said that you were a whiny little bitch who didn't pay enough respect to him. You know what I said to him after that? You don't deserve that respect!"

Harry winced. He didn't like to be reminded of Ginny's betrothal to his famous brother. At least Ron was coming around. Fortunately, Ollivander interrupted.

"Young Mr. Potter, I have crafted your wand- custom, which means at least two cores, two woods, and triple price. I hope you do not mind."

"Of course not," the elder Potter said with a warm smile. "No problem."

Ollivander presented Harry with the wand. It took his breath away.

It was made out of shining red holly, with a dark, polished yew handle that left dark , and was a perfect 12 inches. It was sturdy and carved decoratively. It was beautiful.

"Core of the crushed fang of an ice dragon, the hair of a thestral, and..." Ollivander paused. "The tail feather of a phoenix. Curious... Curious. Quite curious."

"Why is it curious, sir?" asked Harry.

"Well, that particular tail feather was taken from Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix familiar. He only gave a single other feather... and that feather was made into a wand of yew, which was 13.5 inches in length. It chose a boy with smooth, shining black hair, named Tom Riddle. Now he goes by the name of Lord Voldemort."

Ollivander drew back, staring deeply into Harry's eyes. "I warn you, Mr. Potter. Be careful with your wand, and use it for good. For though Voldemort did great things, they were also evil. Oh, yes, great but evil. I would make sure that you do not go Dark."

Then, suddenly changinghe smiled brightly. "Now, here are four wand holsters and four wand polishing kits. That will be fifty galleons and eight sickles. Good day!"

Shaken from the wandmaker's words, he gave the man the Galleons, took the holsters and polishing kits and rushed out of the shop, followed by his friends.

"Hey! Harry, calm down! What did he say to you? Did he try to hurt you?" asked Ginny, eyes blazing.

Deep breath. Harry would not turn Dark. He would not fade into the Light. He would be Grey. He had seen both- measured them in the balance and found them wanting. The Light was corrupted and run by a manipulative old fool obsessed with the greater good. The Dark was... well, evil and led by a madman that had had a really bad childhood, not unlike how Harry had. Which is why Harry feared turning so much.

He turned to his friends. Hermione looked confused and scared- her eyes were shadowed by fear and her face was like a sheet of marble. Luna shot him a knowing look. The Seer knew, of course- she knew everything. And Ginny looked angry, eyes wide and fiery, hands clenched into lethal fists around her wand.

He forced a smile.

"Want to get our pets?"

* * *

Harry pushed the 8 galleons across the counter, holding the cage tightly as his snowy owl, whom he had immediately named Hedwig after the (mostly forgotten) sister of Godric Gryffindor, hooted softly.

Ginny slid her own money across the counter as she clutched her own cage, her slightly battered Barn Owl, Helena, sleeping peacefully in her cage. Hermione attempted to give the saleslady her money and juggle her giant orange half-cat half-kneazle breed, Crookshanks.

Luna waited for them outside, checking her watch as she petted a weird white puffy creature whom she told them was her Nargle, Snickerdoodle, or Doodle for short.

The group walked over to Magical Pets, eyes widening as they viewed the possibilities.

There were a couple Waterbirds- magical birds with glossy blue feathers and eyes made of water who channeled water magic, multiple Flamefoxes - magical foxes with a tail of fire and eyes of fire, whose organs were made completely of- you guessed it!- fire. A few Tressi flew in their cages, the sleek black winged cats meowing happily. A runespoor hissed at Harry from below, its three heads- the critic intact!- singing in harmony, and a pair of skinny dark green augureys were playing a game of catch. At least, that's what it looked like.

Hermione, eyes shining, turned to them and snarled, "The Waterbird is mine!"

"I want a Flamefox," Ginny squealed and bounced over, petting the creature. She yelped as her hand strayed too close to the tail, burning her.

Luna began to strok an augurey, and cooed. "If any of you attempt to take my augurey away from me, I shall make sure you regret it," she warned them.

Harry hissed. "The runespoor belongs to me, and the Tressym as well!"

All three of his friends gave him a look. "Greedy Harry," Ginny scolded. "Just one!"

Harry pouted, and unleashed his ultimate secret weapon- the puppy-dog eyes.

"LOOK AWAY!" Hermione shouted. "He has unleashed the puppy-dog eyes!"

Luna and Hermione averted their eyes. For Ginny, though, the warning was too late, and she got a full-front dose of begging. "Pllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee? Pretty please? Pretty please with ice cream and a cherry on top?" asked Harry, big green eyes widening by the second.

"The physical appearance and taste of the please aren't affecting my answer," Ginny said weakly, but her defenses had been breached. "Oh, fine. But you pay for the rest of us!"

Hermione, who had gone pale looking at the price of the Waterbird, cheered, along with Harry.

* * *

Rowena drifted above Harry's head, mewling softly, as Reyna, Dream, and Critique slithered along beside him, orange stripes glittering like a sunset in the light of the midday sun. Dream smiled as a glorious fantasy began to take form... and was immediately destroyed by Critique.

_-Come on! Seriously, Dream? A land of mice and happiness? NO. A) I prefer rabbits and Rey likes bird eggs more, B) that's cliché, how many times have I seen that? And C) we have a job to do now, we can't just dream like we did before! We have to protect the Master!-_

Reyna butted in, her luminous yellow eyes angry. _-Shut up, Critique! The Master is walking away! We have to follow! And your arguing is going to give me a migraine! I don't even get migraines! Move!-_

Sighing, Critique and Dream pulled themselves along as Harry stopped at a Floo.

* * *

Hermione hugged her friends. "I'm going to miss you terribly for the next month," she joked. "It'll be torture. I might go crazy." She winked at Harry, who had come up to her house over one of the breaks and given her fireplace Floo access. Really, they would be able to contact each other easily.

Ginny frowned. "'Mione, don't joke about it. I really am going to miss you all. I mean, I've lived with Harry for the last two years, and now we aren't going to be able to see each other for a month!"

Luna smiled. "At least you'll have me! I live a broom flight away, Gin. All you have to do is fly."

"And I," Harry added. "I live a few miles from your house, and we can always Floo and fire-call. Chillax, Ginny. You'll be alright. And I set up Hermione's fireplace for Floo access. You'll be able to Floo and fire-call us all, it'll be okay, Gin."

Ginny sniffled. "Are you sure, Harry?"

"Sure. See you in the Floo tomorrow?"

"Okay, okay."

They hugged (again) and Harry poured Floo Powder into the fireplace, stepping into the emerald flames that mirrored his eye color. "POTTER MANOR!" He yelled, voice clear. He vanished in a particularly large burst of the green fire.

* * *

At 11:45 on September 1st, the Potter family arrived at King's Cross. The minute they stepped past the barrier, Joey Potter was swarmed by reporters and posed again and again for the cameras. James preened and Lily joined the pictures as well, but only after kissing her elder son goodbye. No one but Lily noticed the BWL's elder twin slipping away to the Weasleys.

"Hey, Ginny, Ron. Gred, Forge." He winked up at the twin pranksters. George ruffled Harry's hair, laughing.

"Hey, Harry bro," he smiled. "We'll be pranking Perce on the train. Care to join us?"

"No, thanks," Harry grinned up at them. "I'm going to stay with the first years. I haven't seen Luna since Wednesday." At this he dramatically cried out, "Oh woe is me! My poor heart has been broken!"

The twins laughed as Harry straightened and walked back to the train, lifting his Feather-Light trunk above his head to get it to fit through one of the doorways, and found a compartment near the back of the train. Hermione joined him soon afterwards.

"Here comes Hogwarts!" She squealed. "What House do you think I'll be in?" She asked, flopping down on one of the seats.

Harry scrunched his forehead. "Ravenclaw, cause you're so smart... but maybe Gryffindor, because you're so brave. I mean, not everyone sees Albus Dumbledore for who he really is anymore and is actually unafraid to say it out loud. I think the Quartet and the Slytherins are the only ones, really! I don't know. What do you think, 'Mione?"

She shrugged. "I really really wanna be a Ravenclaw. Have you heard about their dorms? According to _Hogwarts, A History_..."

"Honestly, Hermione, not now." Ginny entered the compartment with Ron and Neville. "We get that you are REALLY excited, but please not more quoting."

Luna slipped in to the compartment afterward. "Hello. Hermione, I think you will be a Ravenclaw. I think we'll all be Ravenclaws, except for Ron and Neville. I would say they will be Gryffindors." She sat and pulled out an old issue of the _Quibbler. _Hermione followed suit and took out _The Fellowship of The Ring, _while Harry opened one of his older books and began to reread _A Study In Scarlet. __  
_

Poor Ginny had not brought a book in her carry-on bag like the rest, and was in no mood to go rummaging through her trunk. After a few boring minutes, she asked, "When's the train going to stop?"

Her brother, who was munching a sandwich and playing poker with Neville, said, "It stops at around six. Why, Ginny?"

Ginny groaned. "I'm bored."

Harry shrugged. "Nothing to do but wait, read, eat candy, and change into our robes. Here, Gin, I brought you a book too." He handed her a brand-new book- blue, with black binding- that was called _Wonder _and promptly returned to reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

And so that is how they stayed until six o'clock, when the train began to slow down.

* * *

On the other side of the train, Joey Potter regaled Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Sherry and Terry Boot, Lavender Brown, Pavarti Patil, and Ernie Macmillan with his tales. "You've all gots to make it into Gryffindor, like me," he told them. "I've been having lessons since I was a kid. I'm probably going to be the best in our year! And if you don't make it into Gryffindor, you can't be my friend. It's kind of a rule, so if you can't make it too bad."

Terry and Sherry exchanged glances and left the compartment. Joey didn't notice.

* * *

As the train pulled to a stop, the six in Harry's compartment left the train and walked down to the boats with Hagrid. They split up, Harry Ginny and Luna in one, Ron Neville and Hermione in the other. As they approached the castle, the students caught their breath.

Hogwarts was extremely beautiful, the lights of the Great Hall serving to make it shadowed mysteriously. Even from here, they could hear happy laughter coming from the Hall. It all made up a perfect image. Though it made the students gasp in wonder, it only made the Quartet think of the streams of corruption running through it, from Dumbledore's manipulations to the Gryffindor favoritism, and especially the

As the students got out of the boats and approached the castle, the front doors swung open. A woman with gray hair pulled into a strict bun in an emerald robe stared at them. "Well? Come in now, students," she told them, and turned on her heel. After all the students had entered the hallway outside the Great Hall, she went into the aforementioned Hall to talk to the students who had already taken their seats.

A blonde boy walked up to Harry. "Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy. Nice to meet you. I assume you are Joey Potter?"

Harry shook his head. "Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, Draco. I'm not Joey Potter, I'm his twin brother Harry."

Draco's gray eyes widened. "What? He's got a _twin brother_? A twin brother who's spent time in America? Good Merlin. Look, Harry, the Sorting's about to start, but you seem like a good friend to have in the political spectrum- you own the Potter family vaults, correct? That makes you pretty damn powerful. I'll see you around, what do you say?"

"Sure," Harry said, and shook Draco's hand. The Malfoy winked and walked away, melting into the crowds of first-years.

Ginny gave Harry a look. "Harry! He's a Malfoy! He's on the side of the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Why were you talking to the son of a Death Eater? And now you've become his friend! The only reason he's befriending you is because you've got lots of political power, right? He's just a gold-digger!"

Harry snapped right back, "And according to your reasoning, you're on the side of a manipulative Headmaster who can't learn how to let go, and a gold-digger as well. Ginny, he's _eleven_. Who is evil at eleven freaking years old? Nobody! I thought you'd learned better than that, Gin!"

She looked down, shamefaced, as Luna nodded. "But Ginny, you grew up with Arthur Weasley, I can sympathize. I may always be biased towards Wrackspurts and Nargles versus Quilleaters, because I grew up with the editor of the Quibbler, who has continuing problems with Quilleaters and who only ever met kind Wrackspurts and Nargles. So if I meet a Quilleater-"

Luna was interrupted by the door into the Great Hall opening and the Professor walking back out.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. You will now be Sorted into one of four Houses- Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin or Gryffindor. No matter what House you are Sorted into, I expect you to act with decorum and to help your classmates. I expect you to be kind to all, and to do well in your classes. Now, the Sorting is about to begin."

The doors swung open and they were ushered into the Hall, up onto a platform, and instructed to make a line. Harry clasped Ginny's hand and squeezed tightly as Professor McGonagall called up "Abbot, Hannah," to the stool.

Trembling, the tiny blonde girl sat down and the Hat was placed over her. The Hall went silent with anticipation of the Sorting. After thirty three seconds the Hat yelled out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The first table on the right exploded into cheers as Hannah, who looked shocked and about to cry, hurried over to them, slipping next to her older sister Anne Abbot, who patted her hair as she whispered her woes into her ear.

The Sorting continued as "Bones, Susan," was Sorted into Hufflepuff, followed by Boot, Sherry, the first Slytherin of the day. Her twin brother waved from the Ravenclaw table a few minutes later, after Terry Boot was Sorted into the House of the Eagles.

A few letters later, "Granger, Hermione," was called up to the stool. She sat on the stool for a long time...

* * *

Luna was confused. Hermione was trying desperately hard to be Sorted into Ravenclaw, and the Hat was attempting to Sort her into Ravenclaw, so why wasn't it happening?

Her eyes narrowed, and she pinpointed the source. A thick tendril of white magic-smoke was connected to the Hat and also... to Albus Dumbledore.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Dumbledore was trying to Sort Hermione into Gryffindor! But why?

She thought hard, and finally decided on a theory. Dumbledore was trying to place Hermione, a powerful witch, into a House where he could easily control her and manipulate her into doing what he pleased, and possibly get her to back Joey Potter. The more powerful in Gryffindor the merrier, he was probably thinking.

Luna chuckled. That wasn't going to happen. She looked around- Harry, Ginny, Hermione of course and surprisingly Ron and Neville had noticed what was going on. Luna focused the most of the Legilimency power she had and delved into Hermione's mind, fighting off Dumbledore's unwelcome invasion along with Harry and Ginny. Ron and Neville hadn't figured out what to do yet, but Harry, Ginny, Hermione, the Hat, and Luna's power was definitely enough. It would give Hermione and the Hat a moment of control.

The Hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" and Hermione beamed, taking it off and skipping over to join Terry at the Eagle House as Dumbldore's pale coloring became tinged with the pink of anger.

Luna grinned as well, giving Hermione a thumbs-up. Dumbledore's manipulations had been held off for a while longer.

* * *

A few minutes later, McGonagall called up Neville Longbottom.

Hermione sat back and watched, frowning. He was a conundrum. Hufflepuff or Gryffindor? For one he was a sweet, mild-mannered boy, and very good to them all, especially Luna whenever they met, who was difficult to get along with, with her offhand statements that shocked the hell out of everyone. But upon learning how very terrible some people were to her, he immediately astounded them with yelling and a long string of things he wanted to do to them. And when he had seen Joey Potter curse Luna with a Jelly-Legs curse, he had leapt upon him with a yell of anger and had given him a shining black eye.

Yes, Hermione decided with a smile, definitely a Gryffindor, reckless Neville.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Yelled the Hat. Neville frowned a little, obviously not too cheered by the idea that he would be going into the House of Joey fanboy/fangirlism, but managed a small smile as he walked to the house of Lions.

"LOVEGOOD, LUNA!"

* * *

Harry smiled as Luna bounced over to the stool, sat down, and was quickly Sorted into Ravenclaw. Apparently, Dumbledore had underestimated Luna's power, not even trying to get Luna into a 'Light' House- Harry knew for a fact that he had put bindings on Luna, Ginny, Ron, and his magic. Ginny and Ron's Metamorph abilities, for example, his natural affinity for Occlumency and Legilimency, and Luna's Seer abilities. All of them had lost a little over 40% of their natural power. But the bindings had definitely not held for long- perhaps a few years- before Xenophilius and Molly had noticed the deficiencies and removed the bindings, and Rose Cooper had removed Harry's.

He grinned as Pansy Parkinson, a girl with short black hair, was Sorted into Slytherin. The Patils, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Sally-Anne Perks went to Hufflepuff. Harry bit his lip. His turn!

"POTTER, JOEY!"

* * *

Harry stared at the Professor, confusion louding his senses. Joey? What? His name was Harry, he was supposed to be first. What was Dumbledore playing at?

Joey pranced up to the Professor, grinning stupidly and blowing kisses as the Houses began to gossip. Most of Gryffindor was smirking smugly as Joey put on the Hat, expecting him to come o

Surely, this would be an easy Sorting... Harry thought. It was not.

Dumbledore's Legilimency powers were affected by the rebuff that the Quartet had made. The effect was profound- he was not quite as strong, and Joey wasn't as brave as he made himself out to be... He could not get a tight enough grasp on the Hat's slippery, well-protected mind to stop it from shouting, "SLYTHERIN!"

* * *

The Houses were silent, except for Slytherin, which grinned in triumph. Surely if Slytherin was the place for the great Boy Who Lived to go, their tattered reputation would rise.

Joey, ashen, walked down to the table of the Snakes, eyes wide and full of tears and terror. For once in his life he had failed his parents. And the snakes would tear him apart- he wasn't meant to be a Slytherin.

The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs immediately began to whisper. A Potter, the great Boy Who Lived no less, in Slytherin? It was unheard of! The Gryffindors, especially, were astonished. They had taken it for granted that Joey Potter would be theirs.

James Potter, from his seat at the teacher's table in the spot of the flying instructor, was pale with surprise. His son, a proud Gryffindor, sent into Slytherin! What were they going to do with his Gryffindor robes? No, he would need to talk to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore knew how to fix this. He would modify the memory of most in the castle, including Joey, and get him into Gryffindor. It had been a fluke. He would have to have a talking-to with the Hat.

Minerva quickly proceeded to the next name, trying to get over her shock. She knew she was not supposed to be biased towards her own House, but it was hard not to be- she wanted him to go to hers. As she glanced down at the parchment list of students, her eyes widened. This boy should have been before Joey...

"POTTER, HARRY!"

Harry Potter walked up to the stool as more affronted gazes were exchanged. The Potters had twin boys? Why hadn't Harry been mentioned in the storybooks they had read as young children, and later the _Daily Prophet_'s yearly articles about Joey Potter's birthday parties? Why had they not given even a little recognition to the boy? Why was it always a family of three, not a family of four? There were no answers, just questions- and a beetle perced on one wall was especially thirsty for a response.

Harry sat on the stool, the Hat was lowered over his head and a soft voice whispered into his brain.

_Hello, Master Hogwarts. _

**_Hello, Hat._**

_You can choose where to go, young one. Gryffindor, where you would succeed but never be recognized for it. Hufflepuff, where you would gain friends and allies from within but not without. You would be a bit of an inside joke. Slytherin, where you would not be trusted and would be misused, but would gain glory and fame. Ravenclaw... where you can learn, fight, befriend, be glorified, and never be abused by that... headmaster._

**_Really, Hat, it's not that hard to choose. The Eagles, of course._**

_Very well then. To the Eagles. The Scarf and I are placing bets on you, Harry._

**_Who's the- _**

"RAVENCLAW!"

Harry, still a little confused, took off the Hat and placed it on the stool, coolly stepping down and walking over to Hermione and Luna, who shot him winks. Terry Boot shook Harry's hand and Padma Patil smiled shyly at him, but the rest of them were still frantically trying to come up with answers.

But the night wasn't over yet.

"WEASLEY, GINEVRA!"

Ginny walked calmly over to the Hat and put it on her head. After a few seconds of digging, Harry was sure, Ginny would be placed in Ravenclaw.

But it took far more than a couple minutes. Dumbledore had recovered his formidable strength and was desperately trying to send Ginny off to Gryffindor with all of his might- and someone else's. As Harry plunged into the waging war of Dumbeldore VS Hat and Ginny, he sensed the expected presences- himself, Dumbledore, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. But three others that he could not identify were also there. Two were weakly attempting to pull Dumbledore off Ginny, another was backing Dumbledore. The unidentified person was stronger than the other unidentified two, but their combined might matched whoever it was.

But despite the other presences, as with Hermione, Ginny got successfully into Ravenclaw, and the Quartet sighed in relief as they were reunited. Ginny beamed as "WEASLEY, RONALD" was sent to Gryffindor, and the Sorting finished.

After Dumbledore made a speech and the food appeared, Harry caught the eye of Quirinus Quirrell, the Professor for DADA. He sneered, and Harry felt a stab of pain in his forehead. With that shock of pain, he realized.

Quirinus Quirrell was a manifestation of Voldemort.

* * *

Still dizzy from the Voldemort realization, Harry Potter climbed the stairs to Ravenclaw Tower, 1st year boy dormitories, after saying goodnight to Luna, Hermione, and Ginny. After getting into his bedclothes, he flopped down into his bed and got under the

Hey, you awake?

Yes, Harry?

Quirell is Voldemort. 

I realize. I felt the stab of pain through the Bond. You underestimate it, Harry. The Bond is very powerful, and it enhances senses too. You know that from the book. And you're gonna have to tell Miss Tyler and Kirnella, as well as Hermione and Luna and Ron and Neville of course.

Yes, Gin. I know.

You okay, Harry?

I'm somewhat okay, Ginny, as always. Not good, but definitely not terrible either. Good night. 

Good night.

**Yes! I'm done! This was a REALLY long chapter, it's up to like, 20K. My longest. I probably should have split it but... *shrugs***

**So um, yeah. More on that Soulbond next chappie. And Joey probably will transfer to Gryffindor, as Dumbles said. **

**Ummmm, so yeah!**


End file.
